Blake Johnston, right, former footballer Warwick Capper, centre, and a fellow 'Dwarf My Party' entertainer pose for a picture on the company's website. Credit:Dwarf My Party The Saints released a statement on Tuesday night, saying the matter had now been dealt with to the satisfaction of all parties. "St Kilda Football Club wishes to advise that player Clinton Jones has offered his sincere apologies to entertainer Blake Johnston for an inadvertent action at a players' end of year celebration yesterday. The club has imposed a sanction of $3000 in accordance with the AFL Players Code of Conduct. Clinton has been in contact with AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou regarding the matter, which has now been dealt with in full by all involved." AFL chief executive Demetriou apologised for getting caught in a laughing fit on television when told that a dwarf had been allegedly set on fire during the Saints' Mad Monday celebrations. Demetriou, speaking on 3AW radio, said he would personally contact Johnston to apologise for his response on Channel Seven's Talking Footy, which has sparked anger from the public.

Entertainer Blake Johnston. The AFL boss claimed he thought the story was a joke, and only realised it was genuine when he realised media outlets were running with it online late Monday. The AFL's football operations manager, Mark Evans, has indicated the league could step in to handle the situation.



"It's with St Kilda at the moment and once they provide us the details we'll then have a look at it from there," Evans told AFL website on Tuesday.



He said the league had remained in constant contact with the club.



"The players have been playing pranks on each other by setting the shoelaces on fire, and singing happy birthday, and they've singed the clothing of a performer that they had there," Evans said. Management of Bells Hotel in South Melbourne, where the party took place, described the incident as a "storm in a tea cup". Demetriou revealed that St Kilda players had been warned less than a month ago about the importance of not misbehaving on Mad Monday.



"I was actually giggling in the beginning because I had been told by the producer during the break, before we went onto the next segment, and I thought they were having me on.

He's a performer who relies on his self-esteem and confidence to be able to perform at events like this...He's very distressed. "I thought it was a joke," Demetriou said on Tuesday. "It also preceded the fact we were talking about all the other issues we've had in the last 12 months - with Adelaide, Melbourne, Essendon, ASADA, we've had the issue with Stephen Milne and Adam Goodes, so when this was brought up, I just thought it was incredulous to think that this could possibly be," he said. "Because I had also been told that, for some inexplicable reason, that St Kilda players were walking around with a lighter and lighting the back of each others shirts. "It was inexcusable.

"After I found out that it was true, it's just reprehensible. I was flabbergasted because in the scheme of things, that was one thing I could have never predicted we would deal with. "It was not meant to be offensive and I apologise to anyone who is offended. "Certainly I will be in contact Blake Johnston today to find out how he is and also apologise. But I wasn't directing my laughter at him, I just couldn't believe that this situation had occurred." Demetriou said the AFL were in contact with St Kilda to find out the full facts, but would not say whether the league would get involved further. But he made it clear how angry he was that this incident was now another issue that could damage the game's brand. "I've been very public on my views about Mad Monday. I don't like Mad Mondays, I think they are a thing of a bygone era," he said.

"So when I was told that, for some reason that I could never possibly fathom, that there were people walking around with lighters lighting the back of each others' shirts, I just couldn't believe that. "I just couldn't believe that could be in this day and age. We spend our whole lives teaching children not to play with matches." Demetriou said he was told on Tuesday morning that AFL's cultural training staff had just completed visits to St Kilda and other clubs a few weeks ago. "They had just completed the St Kilda one and they talked about the end of season and the activites and this issue of Mad Monday came up ... how to put things in place to mitigate risk and behavioural aspects. "I don't understand, what the purpose of having lighters, we are talking about fire here, I don't get that.



"I understand that there was no damage done, but it doesn't excuse the behaviour.

"It certainly doesn't excuse my behaviour, and it certainly doesn't excuse what was happening at Mad Monday. It is just unacceptable. "On the lesser scale, it is completely silly and on the other end of the scale it is crazy, it's madness. A St Kilda spokesperson told Fairfax Media late on Monday night: "The club is investigating and is unable to add anything further at this time." Police investigation Victoria Police has confirmed police are investigating the incident after a complaint by Mr Johnston on Monday night.

"South Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit detectives are investigating an incident where a man has claimed that an unknown person set his clothing on fire with a cigarette lighter," a Victoria Police statement said. "The incident happened yesterday at a function in South Melbourne. The victim sustained minor injuries as a result of the incident," it said. A police media spokesperson said police would interview witnesses and use any available closed circuit television camera vision in its investigation. Demetriou's laughter The identity of the player or person who was allegedly involved in the incident is unknown.

Appearing as a guest on Channel 7’s Talking Footy late on Monday night, Demetriou was informed about the incident by fellow panellist Luke Darcy, who said at the outset: "I want to start by saying we understand no one’s been hurt". Demetriou tried to keep a straight face while Darcy was speaking, but began laughing when Darcy asked him if he was "used to this sort of thing".

When host Bruce McAvaney tried to change the subject to the Brownlow Medal and asked Demetriou for his opinion, Demetriou said: "I can’t" and kept laughing. Moments later, McAvaney said Demetriou had "a bad minute or two". Demetriou responded by saying "I’m speechless, seriously." Reaction to the incident

Josh Damman, a co-entertainer with Johnston, demanded an apology from Demetriou. "Had it been a female entertainer who was set on fire, would he be laughing?" he said on his Facebook page on Tuesday. "Surely there would be an outrage made about it." He said Johnston deserves an apology from Demetriou, the AFL, St Kilda and the Talking Footy panel. Many football followers went to social media on Tuesday to voice their disapproval at the panel’s reaction.

Johnston also performs as the professional wrestler "Mr Big" for Professional Championship Wrestling. A spokesman from the wrestling company said in a statement that Johnston had sustained no injury, but was "very distressed" by the incident. "He’s a performer who relies on his self-esteem and confidence to be able to perform at events like this. Tonight he’s feeling very miserable and spending time with friends. He’s very distressed," said the statement, which was read on Channel Nine’s Footy Classified. "The players around him immediately helped him put the fire out and definitely weren’t happy with what happened. "Blake was humiliated and left immediately. He was lit on fire on the lower back from behind and had no idea of it until feeling it."

It was reported that part of the Mad Monday celebrations involved players setting fire to the backs of other players’ shirts. The other dwarf entertainer who performed at the celebrations, Arthur Penn Serevetas, told Channel Nine that Johnston was considering his options. "A player went behind my friend, got one of those gas lighters that you (use to) light up a stove and basically lit him up," he said. "Part of his shirt and pants got on fire and after that someone put it out and he just got ticked off and we basically left. That was the end of our gig, basically. "I mentioned to him after the gig, I said that, 'in my opinion, I think you should pursue it. I think you should get compensation for at least your shirt and pants'.

"And I told him him to make sure that his skin didn’t get burnt or anything like that. "In my line of work, we do things that cross a certain line and boundary. But this is beyond." Mr Johnston is a director of Dwarf My Party, a entertainment hire agency. He has made appearances on television and performs at parties and functions, often billed as "Mr Big" Blake Johnston.



He grew up in Albany in Western Australia and lives in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. He is 124 centimetres tall. "Grow up" Louise Connor, Victorian secretary of the entertainers’ union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, condemned the attack on Mr Johnston saying that clubs should consider a code of conduct for players.