Ah dear.
We’ve already reported an update on the incident at the AFL Showdown this weekend, during which a Port Adelaide FC supporter threw a banana at Adelaide FC forward Eddie Betts, who is an Aboriginal man.
Port Adelaide FC have since released a statement saying that her actions were “clearly racially motivated“, and have invited her to take part in the club’s Indigenous awareness programs in order to educate her on why her actions are not acceptable.
The woman’s mother refused to speak to media, and told The Advertiser that her daughter would not be speaking publicly about the incident.
But now, a man has called into local talkback radio FiveAA this morning, saying he is the woman’s father and proceeding to give a statement which probably would’ve been better left unsaid.
The man, referring to himself as ‘Don‘, stated that he’s angry she’s being “demonised” by media, who are “playing the race card”.
“Trust me, I am her father, I’m the most honest person.I knew nothing about it. I knew the incident had occurred, and then there were people that I knew and I said ‘look, show me on the phone’, and there it was — my daughter.I am just absolutely shocked. I’m just beside myself. Because it’s just so uncharacteristic. This kid is a beautiful kid. She’s very similar to her mother — unassuming, honest. This was so uncharacteristic.”
He told the hosts that there was “no way” that her actions were premeditated, despite spokespeople for Port Adelaide FC stating publicly that the incident was clearly racially motivated: “Unless my daughter was on drugs overnight, no way in the world.”
“I accept that (throwing objects at players is wrong), but don’t demonise someone. The thing that irritates me the most is that we’re playing the racist card here. It was more an act of frustration than a racist act where she’s thrown a banana.You people in the media … you can sensationalise anything.You don’t know what kind of person (she is). She threw a banana in what, to me, was more in frustration. There’s a guy at St Kilda that used to irritate me — his name was Stephen Milne. If that banana’s thrown at Stephen Milne, no fuss would be made about it.
You’re playing the racist game. I’m not condoning what she’s done. This is called media rubbish. Why do you people sensationalise things?
He told the talkback radio show that he “doesn’t condone what she did”, but was adamant that she should not be banned from attending AFL games for life.
“Don’t demonise this human being, because I know what she’s like.”
Listen to the segment here:
Source: FiveAA.
Photo: Will Bishop / Facebook.
