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Internet says what authorities won't after banana allegedly thrown at Indigenous athlete

AFL game again marred by apparent racism.

Ariel Bogle

on August 21, 2016

Internet says what authorities won't after banana allegedly thrown at Indigenous athlete

Eddie Betts of the Crows celebrates a goal during the 2016 AFL Round 22 match between Port Adelaide Power and the Adelaide Crows at the Adelaide Oval on August 20, 2016 in Adelaide, Australia. Credit: Getty Images

The Australian sporting community is reeling after a spectator allegedly threw a banana at Indigenous Australian player Eddie Betts during an Australian Football League (AFL) game in Adelaide Saturday.

Betts, who plays for the Adelaide Football Club, was apparently targeted by a Port Adelaide supporter.

A video posted to Facebook of the incident shows a woman holding up her middle finger at a group of Adelaide Crows players as they celebrate a goal. She then reaches down and picks up a yellow object, flinging it in Betts' direction.

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Port Adelaide Football Club Chairman David Koch said at a media conference Sunday that the woman's membership will be revoked into 2017. If the incident is found to have been motivated by racism, she will be banned for life.

"We're investigating the incident, we've identified the person responsible," he said. "In the interests of fairness we need to talk to the person responsible first."

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While Koch was unwilling to yet characterise the incident, plenty of Australians on social media were more than able to say the word "racism."

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Bett's club said in a statement it was was "disappointed and disgusted" by the incident.

The spectator's actions come as the AFL struggles to put a history of racism in the past. The incident Saturday reignited conversations most recently focused on the harassment of Indigenous former-Sydney Swans player Adam Goodes.

Goodes was hounded into retirement after being repeatedly booed by AFL fans from rival clubs, many of whom maintained they were simply expressing their displeasure with him "as a player." The jeers worsened after a 2013 incident where Goodes pointed out a 13-year-old girl who called him an "ape" during a game.

At the time, the AFL were willing to call Goodes' treatment "racism," but Saturday seems to prove the code has more work to do to bring the game and its fans into a new era of respect.

Despite the best efforts of the spectator in question, the Adelaide Crows won the match and Betts was chaired off the field by his teammates.

Eddie Betts of the Crows is chaired from the field by Sam Jacobs and Josh Jenkins after playing in his 250th AFL game during the round 22 AFL match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval on August 20, 2016 in Adelaide, Australia. Credit: Getty Images

Ariel Bogle

Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.