The Australian Football League and all 18 clubs have apologised to Adam Goodes for their “failures” during the last months of his career, when the Sydney Swans star was hounded by racist abuse from opposing fans.
“The treatment of Adam challenges us, and our right to be considered Australia’s indigenous football code,” the AFL said in a statement, which it said was issued on behalf of members, adminstrators, staff and players.
“Adam, who represents so much that is good and unique about our game, was subject to treatment that drove him from football. The game did not do enough to stand with him, and call it out,” the statement said.
“We apologise unreservedly for our failures during this period.
“Failure to call out racism and not standing up for one of our own, let down all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, past and present.”
Goodes, 39, ended his 372-game career after persistent vilification from the stands, initially stemming from an incident in 2013 when he challenged a girl for calling him an “ape” during a Swans game against Collingwood.
The booing intensified after Goodes performed an Aboriginal war dance in celebration of kicking a goal against Carlton in May 2015, and reached a new pitch when his Indigenous teammate Lewis Jetta mimicked a spear-throwing gesture in response to the hounding of Goodes by West Coast Eagles fans two months later.
He eventually called time on his career in September of that year after a dispiriting finals defeat against North Melbourne, without a traditional farewell lap in front of his fans.
Two documentaries out this year, The Australian Dream and The Final Quarter, have brought the Goodes saga back into the public spotlight by chronicling the events that led to the end of his career. The AFL statement said the films revealed a story of “the personal and institutional experience of racism”.
“We see that Australia’s history of dispossession and disempowerment of First Nation’s people has left its mark, and that racism, on and off the field, continues to have a traumatic and damaging impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players and communities.”
The AFL urged all Australians to see the films, and promised to learn from its own failings.
“We will listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players and communities to learn about the impact of racism and in doing so, we will gain a deeper understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures…
“We are unified on this, and never want to see the mistakes of the past repeated.”