Bulldogs Fan Ejected Due to Homophobic Slur

[jeemak]

On a day when it should be about the club progressing we end up with this being the top story on The Age website.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/western-bulldogs-cheersquad-member-evicted-from-mcg-for-alleged-homophobic-remarks-20150412-1mjayy.html

Disappointing to say the least.

We have a problem with crowd behaviour and are quickly earning a reputation as being intolerant ferals.

[The bulldog tragician]

Incredibly disappointing. What does it take to stamp out this behaviour?

Not that it excuses anything but Mark Stevens also reports racist comments from Richmond fans directed at Lin Jong.

What a shame such ugliness exists.

[westdog54]

Fans membership needs to be torn up. Goes well and truly against the code of conduct established by the club.

[SonofScray]

On a day when it should be about the club progressing we end up with this being the top story on The Age website.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/western-bulldogs-cheersquad-member-evicted-from-mcg-for-alleged-homophobic-remarks-20150412-1mjayy.html

Disappointing to say the least.

We have a problem with crowd behaviour and are quickly earning a reputation as being intolerant ferals.
Disagree on your last point. I'd say we have responded appropriately to poor behaviour by our members in recent history. The Club was very forthright in its response to the last major issue, with the Supporter's Code of Conduct and feedback from the President.

That being said, it remains disappointing that we have (all Clubs, I imagine) fans who cannot refrain from participating in that sort of abuse, when they should be supporting our Club and enjoying the win.

[jeemak]

Disagree on your last point. I'd say we have responded appropriately to poor behaviour by our members in recent history. The Club was very forthright in its response to the last major issue, with the Supporter's Code of Conduct and feedback from the President.

That being said, it remains disappointing that we have (all Clubs, I imagine) fans who cannot refrain from participating in that sort of abuse, when they should be supporting our Club and enjoying the win.

If we have had three ejections within 12 months for either racist or homophobic slurs we probably lead the league and to me that's a problem.

I commend the strong stance the club takes, and I acknowledge that the overwhelming majority of our supporters and fans are smart enough to keep their bigotry to themselves or don't hold bigoted views.

[GVGjr]

The club will deal with this in the same uncompromising manner it has previously set.

Clearly people should go to the footy to support their team not abuse the opposition.

[bulldogtragic]

Just when you think we are out of this, someone (said morons) pulls is back in.

#NotMyBulldogs

[chef]

A member of our cheer squad.

[bulldogtragic]

A member of our cheer squad.

I hope not anymore...

[chef]

I hope not anymore...

You would hope they'll be banned for life

[LostDoggy]

A core member.


You would hope they'll be banned for life

If it's the guy I saw the cops speaking to, he has form and history and is still there. So don't hold your breath.

[ledge]

I'm hearing they kicked out the wrong person and the person who abused Jong was only given a warning.

[Bulldog4life]

I hope not anymore...

Yes get rid of this idiot. We don't need those supporters.

[LostDoggy]

God this is disappointing...

[1eyedog]

Yep I was about 20 metres away and heard the member going on to Rance about his look. He wasn't holding back that's for sure. The police came down and took the wrong guy away. The guy making the comments was late 30s but they took a younger guy away at first but then he came back later. The guy who made the comments was later taken away and was dobbed in by members of the cheer squad. A Richmond Dad with his two kids moved them away, basically happened in front of me. As far as I could make out our own cheer squad alerted the authorities.

[1eyedog]

Yep I was about 20 metres away and heard the member going on to Rance about his look. He wasn't holding back that's for sure. The police came down and took the wrong guy away. The guy making the comments was late 30s but they took a younger guy away at first but then he came back later. The guy who made the comments was later taken away and was dobbed in by members of the cheer squad. A Richmond Dad with his two kids moved them away, basically happened in front of me. As far as I could make out our own cheer squad alerted the authorities.

In addition to the above, which I saw, apparently Alex Rance notified the security guy who was on the ground behind the goals. After Rance spoke to the security guard he walked back and waved to the bulldog supporter, as if to say bye bye, you're gone. 5 minutes later security and police came down.

I never saw Rance do this but have quoted my source direct, who is an AFL employee.

[bulldogtragic]

The son of a bulldog player, an AFL player himself gets this? The only difference between Libba & Rance is Rance wears a different jumper and Libba Sny played 150 more games.

I guess my Get Alex Rance thread is dead in the water.

A handful of dickheads over a few years is making us all look so bad. Embarrassing for all of us.

[G-Mo77]

In addition to the above, which I saw, apparently Alex Rance notified the security guy who was on the ground behind the goals. After Rance spoke to the security guard he walked back and waved to the bulldog supporter, as if to say bye bye, you're gone. 5 minutes later security and police came down.

I never saw Rance do this but have quoted my source direct, who is an AFL employee.

Saw it but wasn't close enough to see the person or hear anything. At what point do you stop crying foul though. I called Riewoldt a peacock several times during the game am I at risk of being thrown out one day? To me it's starting to get a little precious. If it was way over the line then that single person got thrown out and it was dealt with swiftly.

What's more disappointing is several Richmond supporters getting a warning for racially abusing Jong.

[Remi Moses]

So we have a set of fans get a warning for a racial slur, and someone gets kicked out for a homophobic slur?
Bit of inconsistency there, and not condoning either deplorable feral behaviour.

[Twodogs]

Rance can stay at Richmond. If he has enough time to take notice of what the crowd says and act like a 5yo waving people in the crowd off then he obviously not concentrating on what is happening on the field properly.

I'm not condoning what (if anything was said) was said but Rance is payed well to play football, not stare into the crowd.

[LostDoggy]

BT will be filthy about this, one fan may have just cost us a crack at the in form backman of the comp!

[Throughandthrough]

Rance can stay at Richmond. If he has enough time to take notice of what the crowd says and act like a 5yo waving people in the crowd off then he obviously not concentrating on what is happening on the field properly.

I'm not condoning what (if anything was said) was said but Rance is payed well to play football, not stare into the crowd.

disagree.

[Ozza]

Disappointing that this is a headline from our game - when we should be able to focus on the good news of winning.

[Twodogs]

disagree.

Which part?

[Throughandthrough]

Which part?


Yhat the player should ignore it and pretend that it didn't happen.

Nicky Winmar says hello.

[Maddog37]

Gee I'm getting sick of all this off field crap.

[Happy Days]

Rance can stay at Richmond. If he has enough time to take notice of what the crowd says and act like a 5yo waving people in the crowd off then he obviously not concentrating on what is happening on the field properly.

I'm not condoning what (if anything was said) was said but Rance is payed well to play football, not stare into the crowd.

Gotta disagree here too.

The attitude towards homophobia in Australia is not at the reviled level of racism, but it should be; they're both persecutory practices and are both equally disgusting. Homophobia might even be worse in some ways because a lot of people will see nothing wrong with it.

What did you think of Goodes singling out the girl in the crowd, or Dale Thomas doing likewise to a member of the Carlton (?) cheer squad. To me they're one and the same.

[bornadog]

Gotta disagree here too.

The attitude towards homophobia in Australia is not at the reviled level of racism, but it should be; they're both persecutory practices and are both equally disgusting. Homophobia might even be worse in some ways because a lot of people will see nothing wrong with it.

What did you think of Goodes singling out the girl in the crowd, or Dale Thomas doing likewise to a member of the Carlton (?) cheer squad. To me they're one and the same.

Homophobia is so rife that AFL players are too scared to come out. Can you pinch me, is it 2015 or 1915?

[G-Mo77]

I'm a 37 year old male and each day I'm learning. I strive to be a better person and I think I am succeeding. The person on Saturday made a mistake and will learn a lesson pretty quickly about what is right and wrong but should he be tarred and feathered? No! I've probably said similar things to people, questioning a males sexuality can be a real insult to a straight person and on the footy field I've dealt it out and received it as well. We're all learning in life and this person will hopefully learn from this and be a better person for it. Sometimes a mistake needs to be made in order to be educated.

I try and look at racism and slurs with a glass half full. If we had a Delorean we should all go back and watch a VFL game in the 70's or 80's maybe even 90's. This behavior was normal. Now on very rare occasions it rears it's ugly head. Overall we're all getting better as fans and IMO that is a positive.

The person was ejected pretty quickly from the ground. That's were it should have ended. The rants of do gooders after something like this is something that I find disappointing. None of us are perfect.


Gotta disagree here too.

The attitude towards homophobia in Australia is not at the reviled level of racism, but it should be; they're both persecutory practices and are both equally disgusting. Homophobia might even be worse in some ways because a lot of people will see nothing wrong with it.

What did you think of Goodes singling out the girl in the crowd, or Dale Thomas doing likewise to a member of the Carlton (?) cheer squad. To me they're one and the same.

Anti-Religious people are the biggest problems now. When you have our politicians supporting a ban on wearing a burqa you know you've got problems.

[Maddog37]

Is this a football forum?

[westdog54]

Guys, we're getting awfully political here. Let's keep on topic. I don't want to have to delete posts.

[LostDoggy]

BT will be filthy about this, one fan may have just cost us a crack at the in form backman of the comp!

Rance: "Look, Jason, I like what you've put forward here, the money is just about right, I like the club and the boys and the team, I think you're in for some success and I'd really love to come aboard. However, back in Round 2 some twit sprouted a homophobic remark, so I'm going to stay at Richmond. Good luck in 2016."

[bornadog]

from The Age


A Western Bulldogs cheer squad member was wrongly evicted from the MCG after being mistakenly identified as the person who made a homophobic comment during Saturday's clash between the Bulldogs and Richmond.

The matter came to light after the real perpetrator made contact with the Bulldogs, admitting to having made the remark. The supporter also contacted the Tigers to apologise.


While it is unclear how the fan will be punished, the Dogs are renowned for taking a strict stance on member behaviour, with their board having ratified a code of conduct for members in 2013.


The issue originally came to light after a Richmond player alerted security that he had heard the remark.

[bulldogtragic]

As a COMPLETE aside, getting wrongly kicked out for doing nothing is completely lacking in any natural justice of fairness. Punished for doing nothing wrong and potentially having their requitation potentially defamed, doesn't sit well with me.

[bornadog]

As a COMPLETE aside, getting wrongly kicked out for doing nothing is completely lacking in any natural justice of fairness. Punished for doing nothing wrong and potentially having their requitation potentially defamed, doesn't sit well with me.

Has he got a case for compensation?

[Twodogs]

As a COMPLETE aside, getting wrongly kicked out for doing nothing is completely lacking in any natural justice of fairness. Punished for doing nothing wrong and potentially having their requitation potentially defamed, doesn't sit well with me.


Has he got a case for compensation?


It depends on what sort of compensation I suppose.

[Ghost Dog]

I would prefer they write down names and give warnings rather than kicking people out, straight away.
As proven with this story, in a sea of people you can easily get it wrong. What's to stop opposition supporters making up lies?

[GVGjr]

As a COMPLETE aside, getting wrongly kicked out for doing nothing is completely lacking in any natural justice of fairness. Punished for doing nothing wrong and potentially having their requitation potentially defamed, doesn't sit well with me.

Same here. The indignity of being paraded out of the ground for doing nothing wrong could have people considering coming back to the game.

[Remi Moses]

I would prefer they write down names and give warnings rather than kicking people out, straight away.
As proven with this story, in a sea of people you can easily get it wrong. What's to stop opposition supporters making up lies?

That's exactly what happened to a group of us 2 years ago.
Essendon fan ( humourless lot as per usual) after a mate made a comment about peptides, dobbed us in wrongly accused of racial slurs. Utter utter disgrace

[bulldogtragic]

Same here. The indignity of being paraded out of the ground for doing nothing wrong could have people considering coming back to the game.

I would be concerned some smart arse could get me kicked out. If said SA decides his team is losing and wants to take vengeance on me, he can text the number to security, make the allegation and I'm kicked out and potentially banned. Nothing I can do.

I ejected many people in my former career, but always on my vision or under instruction from the S/Sgt. controlling the eye in the sky. If security or police heard it and would testify if required, then it's different. But I have a personal issue with issuing a penalty (ejection) without proof, on hearsay and/or meeting any evidential burden. Natural justice should dictate they take the names, investigate it and once the burden of proof for banning is met, throw bans at them.

I'm sure the specifics might have a grey area, but it highlights that the system has flaws and could be abused.

[bulldogtragic]

Has he got a case for compensation?

Can't imagine so at a crunch. Injury and/or defamation laws are getting tighter and tighter in my estimation.

[LostDoggy]

That's exactly what happened to a group of us 2 years ago.
Essendon fan ( humourless lot as per usual) after a mate made a comment about peptides, dobbed us in wrongly accused of racial slurs. Utter utter disgrace

Wouldn't expect anything less from Essendon scurge of the earth.

[jeemak]

Same here. The indignity of being paraded out of the ground for doing nothing wrong could have people considering coming back to the game.


That's exactly what happened to a group of us 2 years ago.
Essendon fan ( humourless lot as per usual) after a mate made a comment about peptides, dobbed us in wrongly accused of racial slurs. Utter utter disgrace


I would be concerned some smart arse could get me kicked out. If said SA decides his team is losing and wants to take vengeance on me, he can text the number to security, make the allegation and I'm kicked out and potentially banned. Nothing I can do.

I ejected many people in my former career, but always on my vision or under instruction from the S/Sgt. controlling the eye in the sky. If security or police heard it and would testify if required, then it's different. But I have a personal issue with issuing a penalty (ejection) without proof, on hearsay and/or meeting any evidential burden. Natural justice should dictate they take the names, investigate it and once the burden of proof for banning is met, throw bans at them.

I'm sure the specifics might have a grey area, but it highlights that the system has flaws and could be abused.

I'm just shocked and bemused that a policy or initiative pushed by the AFL could end up with unintended consequences, that could potentially be abused by underhanded types.

Lucky that sort of thing never happens on the field of play, and the game and participants remain pure in intent at all times.

[bornadog]

Can't imagine so at a crunch. Injury and/or defamation laws are getting tighter and tighter in my estimation.

Well at least the club could perhaps give him something, maybe a free pass to visit the rooms after the game. (PR exercise)

I would be livid I missed a great win like that if t was me.

[Twodogs]

Well at least the club could perhaps give him something, maybe a free pass to visit the rooms after the game. (PR exercise)

I would be livid I missed a great win like that if t was me.


That's the sort of compensation that will probably be offered.

[jeemak]

You'd think the AFL, the MCC and the Club could all pool their resources together and make right what was clearly a massive error.

[SonofScray]

As a COMPLETE aside, getting wrongly kicked out for doing nothing is completely lacking in any natural justice of fairness. Punished for doing nothing wrong and potentially having their requitation potentially defamed, doesn't sit well with me.

Happened to me at Hindmarsh Stadium for an MVFC V AUFC match. Security came up to me and said "you're out" about 20mins before the game. To this day I don't know why. When I asked them why, they immediately took that as me resisting their request and put me in a choke hold, swearing etc. At that point I had to bite and scratch and punch to prevent being put to sleep. Others in the crowd got involved and it got ugly very quick.

The feedback I got later on was that I should have simply followed their instructions without question as the terms and conditions for entry to the stadium have a clause that effectively lets them remove anyone at anytime for any reason.

[1eyedog]

As a COMPLETE aside, getting wrongly kicked out for doing nothing is completely lacking in any natural justice of fairness. Punished for doing nothing wrong and potentially having their requitation potentially defamed, doesn't sit well with me.

This is what I saw right in front of me as per my earlier post, but they brought him back a while later as if knowing he was the wrong guy. After this the cops escorted another guy out, presumably the perpetrator.

[bulldogtragic]

If nothing else, the above posts just highlight the issues.

[LostDoggy]

That's exactly what happened to a group of us 2 years ago.
Essendon fan ( humourless lot as per usual) after a mate made a comment about peptides, dobbed us in wrongly accused of racial slurs. Utter utter disgrace

I would've waited for them outside and hammered them about the drug saga all the way back to the train.