Brisbane Lions have terminated the membership of a fan who allegedly racially abused Adelaide Crows midfielder Izak Rankine.
The 24-year-old had an off-the-ball bump with Lions player Brandon Starcevich during the Round 17 clash at The Gabba.
He was subject to intense booing, and was also the target of a “disgusting racial slur” posted to social media during the match.
In response, Brisbane Lions immediately terminated the alleged individual’s club membership and referred the comments to the AFL Integrity Unit for further investigation.
“Racism is unacceptable. There are no excuses,” the club said in a statement.
“We condemn the social media comments made towards an Adelaide Crows player during the match last night.
“They do not reflect the values of our club or our players.”
The Crows “strongly” endorsed the decision to terminate the fan’s membership and are providing support to Rankine and are working with the Integrity Unit.
“It is even more disappointing given it is NAIDOC Week and a time at which we should be celebrating Indigenous culture rather than dealing with vilification,” they noted.
Crows CEO Tim Silvers said there remains “no place for racism of any kind in society”.
“It is extremely sad and disappointing that we find ourselves dealing with yet another abhorrent attack on one of our players,” he said.
“As an industry we have a collective responsibility to not only call out racism, but do everything we can to eradicate it, and we support Brisbane which has acted swiftly and decisively.
“It is also important we take the time to understand the hurt this behaviour causes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people because unfortunately, despite how far we have come in this space, the message is still not getting through.”
Silvers said the Crows will continue to support Rankine and his family.
Rankine was also among the numerous Indigenous AFL stars who were racially vilified online in 2023.
In the same year, the AFL enforced lifetime bans for those perpetrating racial abuse.
Despite copping racism, Rankine remains a very staunch Ngarrindjeri man.
He put his culture and artistic talents on show this year designing the Crows Indigenous guernsey with his childhood mate Harley Hall for the Sir Doug Nicholls Round in May.
Izak Rankine of the Crows and Jase Burgoyne of the Power pose in their Indigenous guernseys during the 2024 Sir Doug Nicholls Round Launch. Credit: Mark Brake/AFL Photos/via Getty Images
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