The Anti-Defamation Commission has condemned the latest racial slur against Carlton player Eddie Betts.
Betts posted on his Instagram page a tweet, apparently originating from the account of an Essendon supporter, which depicted him as a monkey.
The Essendon FC has apologised to Betts and to the indigenous community and has pledged to revoke the membership of that individual.
The star player has told the AFL Players Association that he has been continuously subjected to abuse since the beginning of his football career.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said:
“We agree that silence and inaction are never an option when it comes to confronting bigotry and we stand in solidarity with Eddie Betts.
This shameful incident proves, sadly, that racism against our indigenous brothers and sisters remains a blight on our community, and reaffirms that we must never brush aside any slur, whatever the source.
People should be taught that demeaning and dehumanising posts, as we saw in this episode, are often the beginning to harassment and physical violence.
We must declare our zero-tolerance to vicious intolerance, on and off the field.
We applaud sportspeople like Eddie Betts for naming and confronting the hatred, and for using their fame to inspire others by their anti-racism message.
We are also pleased that players, coaches and sporting organisations are standing together and saying that hateful rhetoric and actions will never be welcomed in Australia and that any racially motivated behaviour is totally unacceptable.”