Anti-homophobia ads to air at AFL finals

Updated

The AFL has agreed to show anti-homophobia commercials at this weekend's preliminary finals, in response to an online campaign initiated by a gay Victorian footballer.

Jason Ball, 24, plays in the Yarra Valley Mountain District league and says he created the campaign to stamp out homophobia in the game.

His online petition has attracted more than 25,000 signatures in less than two weeks.

He says the AFL will air the No to Homophobia commercials on the big screen at tonight's match between Sydney and Collingwood and again at tomorrow's game between Hawthorn and Adelaide.

"No AFL player has openly acknowledged their sexuality," he said.

"There are definitely gay players but the fact that no one is willing to say that I think does speak volumes to the fact that there is a culture problem, and that needs to change.

"Part of it is that is for those people who are bystanders to take action as well, because I know from my experience, it's not easy to stand up for yourself when you're in that situation."

Mr Ball says the lack of gay role models shows the league has a problem.

"If I had have known of gay AFL players or coaches when I figured out that I was gay that would have made a world of difference to me," he said.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says screening the commercials will be just one part of the league's efforts to tackle homophobia.

"I can assure you we've got further plans in the future," he said.

"We thought given the forum we've got, the preliminary final on tonight, where we get large attendances, it was very important to raise awareness.

"We take our responsibility as a community leader and a community organiser very seriously."

Anna Brown from the No to Homophobia campaign says other sporting codes should follow the AFL's lead.

"I would encourage all areas of life, but also sporting codes across Victoria, to think about what they can do to tackle homophobia," he said.

"We'd certainly welcome working with other sporting codes to promote the television ads and the campaign."

However the commercials will not be played during the grand final.

Mr Demetriou says the league is happy to support the campaign and other tough issues, but the grand final is not the right forum.

"It's the grand final, which is the culmination of a long year," he said.

"And we get approached by a multitude of groups to help raise awareness on that day.

"When you've got 3.5 million people watching on television and you've got 100,000 in the stadium, that's not something we use as a vehicle to help push things because we open ourselves up to all sorts of groups."



Topics: lgbt, australian-football-league, melbourne-3000

First posted