By Marnie Vinall
The Victorian Amateur Football Association has concluded an investigation into alleged racial vilification after claims made by a player, who said the league failed to take appropriate action at the time.
In August, VAFA player Aish Ravi called for an overhaul of policies to deal with racism after she reported a racial slur from an opposition player, and believed it was met with “silence” as it had not yet been resolved.
On Friday, the VAFA confirmed in a statement a charge was laid against the opposition player for “engaging in conduct unbecoming of a member of the association”.
“It was established that the offending player called the aggrieved player ‘an animal,’ which clearly caused stress to the aggrieved player and in doing so, the offending player breached her duty of care in ensuring a safe and inclusive on-field environment,” the statement read.
“In taking into account all the facts of the case, and the expectations of each party, the independent investigator recommended that a face-to-face apology be provided and the aggrieved player have the opportunity to express her feelings from the incident.
“The VAFA facilitated this apology meeting on Monday evening, where both parties were present and resolved the issue. We thank both parties for their role in this reconciliation.”
The investigator of the case put forward a number of considerations for VAFA, including an increased commitment to a safe environment, further education of clubs, players and umpires on the league’s vilification and discrimination policy and increased support for players involved in such cases.
VAFA denies inaction claim from player who alleged racial vilification
The Victorian Amateur Football Association has denied that it has failed to take appropriate action in response to a player’s allegation of racial vilification during a match two weeks ago.
On Friday, The Age reported that VAFA player Aish Ravi was calling for an overhaul of policies to deal with racism after she reported a racial slur from an opposition player, and believed it was met with “silence” as it had not yet been resolved.
On Saturday, VAFA responded in a statement on their website, denying inaction, and said it was disappointed that the handling of the vilification and discrimination case had become public, rejecting Ravi’s claims.
“It must be stated that the VAFA is totally committed to ensuring a safe and enjoyable environment is provided for all our amateur, players, officials and supporters. The well-being of all stakeholders is paramount,” the VAFA statement read.
“As part of this environment, the VAFA adopts a zero tolerance to racism and vilification, and have adopted the AFL Victoria vilification and discrimination policy to appropriately address any such alleged matters.
“The VAFA totally refute Ms Ravi’s claims that we have treated this particular case with ‘silence’ and the claim that the existing policy doesn’t address the ‘seriousness of the matter’.”
The statement included a timeline of the past two weeks since Ravi reported the incident, which said the VAFA immediately notified both clubs involved and began discussing arrangements for an informal meeting.
The league said it had been in contact with Ravi’s club on multiple occasions about a conciliation meeting but was still awaiting a response.
The VAFA “confirmed that player welfare is our priority and [was] requesting to be advised if there was anything further the VAFA could do to assist the player at this point in time.”
The Age has seen a copy of the umpire’s report, which confirmed the report of a “potentially racist comment” where a player “asked for [the] incident to be reported to league”.
VAFA’s statement said the publication of the report’s contents was a breach of confidentiality, and would hinder the process further. “Through these actions, the breach of confidentiality has severely compromised the capacity of the process to adequately address all the claims.”
The Age had contacted the VAFA on Friday, which said: “The investigation into the matter is ongoing and we are continuing to work with the two clubs involved.”
The full statement can be read here.
