Gold Coast SUNS CEO Travis Auld today welcomed the resolution following a complaint lodged under AFL Player Rule 30 covering the Racial and Religious Vilification Code.
“The Gold Coast SUNS are satisfied with the outcome reached following the complaint lodged after our match on the weekend.”
“We believe the AFL dealt with the matter appropriately and wish to acknowledge the professionalism in the way that the Western Bulldogs handled the incident.”
The Gold Coast SUNS now believe the matter is closed, and in line with the AFL’s Racial and Religious Vilification Policy, the GC SUNS and its players will be making no further comment.
AFL STATEMENT
Australian Football League (AFL) General Manager Football Operations Adrian Anderson today said there had been a resolution over a complaint under AFL Player Rule 30 covering the Racial and Religious Vilification Code, that had arisen from last Saturday’s match at Metricon Stadium.
Mr Anderson said the two parties had been part of a conciliation meeting and it was determined that:
- A matter between Western Bulldogs player Justin Sherman and a Gold Coast SUNS player was conciliated and settled. Player Sherman admitted he had racially vilified an opposition player and he apologised to the GC SUNS player;
- Justin Sherman will attend an education program under the guidelines of the Player Rules under Rule 30;
- Justin Sherman has agreed that he will serve a four-match suspension to cover rounds 15-18 of the 2011 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. He may play at VFL level during that period;
- Justin Sherman will make a donation of $5000 to the charity nominated by the Gold Coast SUNS:
- The Gold Coast SUNS player accepted Sherman’s apology and said the other outcomes of the conciliation, as outlined above, were acceptable to him to conclude this matter;
- No person involved in the conciliation agreement, the AFL, the Western Bulldogs FC or the Gold Coast SUNS FC may publicly identify the Gold Coast player involved in this conciliation.
Mr Anderson said the two clubs had played a strong role in supporting the conciliation under the AFL Player Rules, and said the AFL remained absolutely committed to its stance against racial vilification.
“The AFL will not accept any form of vilification in our game and will continue to act strongly and immediately in this area,” Mr Anderson said.
“I want to acknowledge the way in which the Gold Coast SUNS and the Western Bulldogs have addressed this issue with the utmost importance, and also to acknowledge Justin Sherman for taking responsibility for his actions.”
