Wellington Phoenix reserves player Fin Conchie stood down for homophobic comment

Fin Conchie (left) at the recent Under-20 World Cup. Photo / AP

A player on the Wellington Phoenix Reserves team has been stood down after making a homophobic comment during a match.

Midfielder Fin Conchie, 19, verbally abused a Petone FC player in the second half of Saturday’s match at Memorial Park.

The officials did not hear the comment at the time, however, Conchie admitted to the club the comments were homophobic.

Conchie is also on the New Zealand Under-20 international squad. He will be unable to play for the Phoenix Reserves for the foreseeable future but will continue to train with the reserves and the first team.

Phoenix director of football Shaun Gill said “homophobic abuse or abuse of any kind simply isn’t tolerated and in no way reflects the values of the club” and Conchie has met with the club to apologise for the comments.

“Fin acknowledges this and is prepared to accept any punishment that comes his way,” Gill said.

“He is genuinely sorry for what he’s said and wants to own his mistake. Fin has agreed for us to speak out publicly so his teammates aren’t suspected of doing anything wrong.”

Gill believes the comments don’t reflect the club’s culture, but is still working to ensure “homophobic abuse is stamped out of football”.

“We believe there needs to be further education for our young footballers in Aotearoa,” he said.

“We have a sports psychologist and a chaplain at the academy, but it’s clear we need to do more. We will review all of our processes and will work with Rainbow Youth to ensure we’re better at educating our young players.”

Gill said Conchie is “still a part of the club” so the standard duty of care is still applied to him to help with his personal development.

“He is a young man who has made a mistake, but we as a club are also responsible so we’ll work together to ensure there’s no repeat of such behaviour at the Wellington Phoenix,” Gill said.

Just last month, the All Whites refused to return to the pitch at half-time when a player on the opposition verbally abused defender Michael Boxall.

In the match at the 40-minute mark against Qatar in Austria, Yusuf Abdurisag made a racist comment after the free kick he was awarded was questioned by the All Whites.

Referee Manuel Schuttengruber took no action, despite an extended chat with skipper Joe Bell, with the halftime whistle blown soon afterwards. The two teams left the field, with the All Whites deciding, after a team meeting, not to return.

New Zealand Football has said the All Whites have their full backing.

“We fully support the action of our players, who agreed collectively to this course of action,” New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell said in a statement.

“We never want to see a match abandoned but some issues are bigger than football and it is important to make a stand.