TheAFLis appealing for the entire industry to unite and use the fresh Indigenous round as a landmark in the code’s fight against racism.
But AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon says headquarters can’t fix the problem itself asfallout continues from the Willie Rioli case.
ThePort Adelaide forward has served a one-game suspensionfor threatening opponents, with his club directly linking the incidents with racism Rioli has suffered.
“I hope he is going OK,” Dillon said in Darwin on Tuesday at the launch of the AFL’s annual Sir Doug Nicholls Round. “And I know he is getting support from the players’ association and Port Adelaide.
“We want to have environments where everyone can be the best that they can be, and we have done a lot of work in this area. It would appear there is still more work to do, and we know that and we acknowledge that. And that is something the AFL can’t fix by itself.
“It’s something that it’s the AFL, it’s our clubs, it’s our players, it’s our coaches – it’s an all-of-industry approach that we are going to need to continue to make our environments the best they can be for all the men and women that play the game.
“It’s something the AFL is responsible for, but it’s something the whole industry needs to buy into – and we’re getting the buy-in from our players. We’re working with our coaches and our clubs on that to make sure that the AFL can continue to thrive and we can have a diverse playing group.”
Rioli is expected to return to action when Port host Geelong on Saturday at Adelaide Oval.
The AFL initially decided not to sanction Riolifor using social media to threaten Western Bulldog Bailey Dale after a recent game.
But after two more incidents of Rioli making verbal threats to players in other games were disclosed, the AFL re-opened his case, resulting in the one-match suspension.
“When all of that information came to light, the different decision was laid down,” Dillon said. “We don’t react to media criticism – if we did that, we would be changing our mind every single day.
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“What we do is make decisions based on the information that we have, and we do that to the best of our ability. There are always different views on off-field sanctions and any sanctions of players, and what we want to do is have an environment where the players can be the best they can be.”
Dillon’s comments came as Brisbane’s premiership star Callum Ah Chee praised Indigenous round, but said he hoped a desire to learn about Indigenous cultures would last more than one weekend.
“If we can do a lot more outside of Indigenous round, that would be great,” Ah Chee said in Brisbane.
“People going out and learning about our culture ... not waiting until Indigenous Round to learn about it.”