Racism storm sweeps through sporting codes

Rugby league star Greg Inglis. Photo / Getty Images

CANBERRA - The row over racism in sport has been fuelled further by a former Australian Football League star's reference to indigenous opponents as "cannibals" that his team had trouble seeing in the poor light of night games.

Mal Brown's remarks to a Melbourne lunch have added to the vilification of Queensland Rugby League Origin player Greg Inglis by New South Wales assistant coach Andrew Johns last week.

Andrews' instructions to his team to stop the "nigger" Inglis ahead of Wednesday night's Origins game prompted NSW star Timana Tahu to quit the team, and have led to widening claims of endemic racism within the league.

The allegations come despite a growing number of indigenous players - and others from different ethnic and racial groups - in AFL and the NRL, and programmes to stamp out racism in sport.

They have also followed a series of sex and drug scandals that have hit both codes in the past few years.

In the latest incident, Brown, a former Richmond player, told a legends anniversary lunch that during a night game his team "couldn't pick any of the cannibals (Aboriginal players)".

"All the good black fellows, we couldn't pick them because they couldn't see them in the [poor] light," Brown said.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said he was disgusted by remarks that reflected a bygone era and did not represent the sport's present culture.

"[Brown] is in the minority, and I'd say in a very, very small minority, because we've spent years and years educating players, administrators and club officials, and I think the football population in general, our fans, would share my disgust," he said.

The AFL has been working to clamp down on racism since former Essendon player Michael Long stood his ground in 1995, leading to the introduction of a racial vilification code.

The AFL is strongly supported in many Aboriginal communities and has produced a growing number of indigenous stars, with 38 playing for five elite teams in the past three seasons.

Indigenous players have won top awards, including Brownlow, Sandover and Norm Smith Medals, Rising Star awards, and have played in premierships for two decades.

The AFL also sponsors programmes in Aboriginal communities throughout the Northern Territory, North Queensland, and northern Western Australia.

Brown told ABC radio yesterday that he had worked for decades with indigenous teams, that no malice had been intended, and that they reflected the humour of 15 years ago.

Apologising unreservedly, he told Fairfax radio that he was not racist and that the remarks had been made in jest but said: "Sensitive people told me it wasn't humorous and I made a dickhead of myself, and I accept that."

But the "cannibals" slur has further re-opened old wounds.

A report on racism in sport three years ago by the Human Rights Commission said the problem had been sport's "ugly underbelly" for more than a century, and had only been identified publicly by a range of national sporting codes in the past decade.

This has been confirmed further by the uproar over John's remarks about Inglis, which reportedly included insults such as "monkey", "coon", "nigger", and "black c**t", and were widened to include other players of indigenous descent.

Like the AFL, the NRL chiefs have condemned the insults and rejected suggestions they reflected a wider racism within the code, and Johns has been sacked from his NSW coaching job.

Also like the AFL, the NRL is fighting a bitter turf war with other football codes and has a strong and growing indigenous component.

About 10 per cent of NRL players are Aboriginal - from a population that is only 2.3 per cent of the national total - and last year a record five indigenous stars were included in the national side.

Last February, an Indigenous All-Stars team beat the non-Aboriginal All Stars 16-12 in a pre-season game on the second anniversary of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generation.

But Long, whose activism spread from the AFL to national issues, condemned the NRL's lack of strength and respect on racism, and told the Australian that Johns' comments confirmed that Australian athletes were still racially abused.

He was supported by fellow activist and former NRL professional Michael Anderson, who said the incident was far from isolated, especially in country areas.

"For racist comments to be brushed over within the NRL is an indictment on the league," he said.