Candice Warner has revealed she was the target of “vile abuse” from a group of unruly fans at Adelaide Oval, saying she’s starting to feel the cricket is an “unsafe place” for her and her children.
Candice, the former ironwoman and wife of David Warner, who is hosting Triple M’s Summer Breakfast along with Harley Breen and Tom Tilley, revealed she was targeted on Saturday afternoon during the second Test against the West Indies.
She revealed she was walking with her daughters and felt she needed to confront the men.
“Saturday afternoon at Adelaide Oval, just before the lunch break, the girls wanted to see their dad,” Candice began. “So we went from one area of Adelaide Oval to the other. It was probably about 200m.
“In that time, I had two of my three daughters, my eight-year-old and my three-year-old, we were walking hand-in-hand, and as we’re walking past a huge group of people, it was a group of five or six men who just started throwing vile abuse at me.
“I continued to walk and then I just stopped and I looked around at this group of men and it was one guy in particular. And they were laughing and they were pointing. And they thought what they did was okay.
“So I decided to confront them. I didn’t have to, but with my girls in my hands, I thought it was really important to confront them because for us, my actions need to mirror the messages I give to my kids.
“So I confronted them and like any group of men who have been drinking, they were weak, they were gutless, they didn’t own up to what they did and the man who was actual yelling this abuse was hiding behind his friend.”
Tilley asked what Candice actually said to the men.
“I said ‘Do you feel good about yourself, trying to intimidate me, to belittle me, embarrass me in front of my kids? You clearly don’t have kids yourself, it’s not okay. It’s not okay to bully someone, it’s not okay to make fun of other people’,” she said.
“The thing that disappointed me was, one, the fact they thought it was funny, two, that they couldn’t own up to their mistake, but the fact that in a packed stadium, when they could see a mother with two kids clearly in distress, my girls were upset, not one single person came to my assistance. Not one.
“The sad thing is that in a time when we’re trying to encourage more women, more girls to participate in sport, to attend sport, that I’m now starting to feel like it’s not safe for me and my kids to attend sport and support their father.”
Candice said it was important for her to confront the men because she wants to “raise confident and fearless young girls that aren’t afraid to stand up for themselves and confront bullies head on”.
Tilley said bullies often “cowered back” when confronted and Candice added the group of men were “as weak as they come”.
She said the men didn’t apologise but that one had DMed her on Instagram, who said: “I didn’t say anything, but I also didn’t speak out so I’m very sorry about that and I’m sorry he said what he said.
“I know this won’t make up for anything but I just wanted to say sorry.”
Candice said due to David’s international schedule, she is “the mother and the father” for her girls and “won’t allow my girls to see their mum be bullied, intimidated. It’s not what I stand for.”
Warner said her eldest daughter Ivy asked why she confronted the men.
Candice replied: “Darling, you’ve got to understand, this is not okay. We won’t tolerate this, this is unacceptable no matter male, female, how big, you need to learn to stand up for yourself and this is why.
“What I was so surprised about was not one person who could see me, visibly upset, distressed and my two daughters and people were happy to just watch this. I know if it was the other way around, I would definitely go and see what’s going on.
“Now we go to the cricket and I’m starting to feel like it’s an unsafe place for me and my kids to be at.“
The incident capped off a tough week for the Warner family after David decided not to contest his leadership ban following the new the independent process would also be public.
David was banned from leadership positions after the 2018 Cape Town ball tampering scandal, which also saw him banned for a year.
He released a furious message last week to announce he was withdrawing from the Cricket Australia process as he aimed to avoid the “public lynching” of re-airing the sandpaper-gate details in public.
Candice, who as long called for David’s ban to be overturned, lashed out at CA, saying the family “had been through hell”.
“To put our family, also his teammates, through everything again and the disappointing thing for David is this has been dragged out for so long,” she said.
“Everything first kicked off in February (reviewing Warner’s leadership ban) and it’s now December and still no decision.
“It’s still raw, we go to cricket so often watching David play and there’s always people yelling things out at the crowd.
“My daughters proudly wear their dad’s T-shirt with their dad’s name on the back. The fact that my daughters have to cop abuse because of incidents that have happened in the past is not fair.
“David always puts family first, he’s fiercely protective of myself and the three girls, and cricket is not everything, cricket is what he does, but cricket does not define him and the person he is.
“The fact that there was a lack of player welfare (from Cricket Australia), and no welfare about David and our family speaks volumes.”
