A social media post mocking Jarryd Roughead‘s cancer battle has been condemned by both Hawthorn and Carlton.
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The vile taunt was reportedly posted on an AFL fan page on Facebook during the Hawks’ clash against the Blues on Sunday.
Roughead previously took time away from the game in 2015 and 2016 to receive treatment for melanomas.
On Sunday night, Hawthorn swiftly slammed the post with CEO Justin Reeves labelling it as “completely unacceptable”.
“This sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable and will never be tolerated by the Hawthorn Football Club. No person should ever be subjected to taunts, especially about issues as personal as this. As a club we are fully behind all of our players and will continue to make a stand against this toxic behaviour in our game.”
A message from Hawthorn CEO Justin Reeves. pic.twitter.com/94Eu6EJxVQ
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) April 28, 2019
Carlton issued a statement this morning, condemning abuse and online trolling of any kind.
“These comments were disgusting and do not hold any place in our society. Our club will not stand for this behaviour and remains committed to holding such distasteful actions to account.”
The Blues said they do not know the man involved and have no record of him in the Club’s database.
The man has since claimed that he did not write the post.
“Someone has used my name or photoshopped my profile onto a post about Jarryd Roughead”, he wrote on his Facebook profile, per The Age.
The post is the latest in a string of shocking comments shared on social media platforms during the footy seasons. In March, Carlton’s Tayla Harris became the target of trolls after a picture of her, mid-kick, was inundated with derogatory comments. Earlier that month, North Melbourne‘s Majak Daw was the subject of a racial slur posted on the AFL’s official Facebook page.
