Another AFL Round, Another Social Justice Cause
The AFL just cannot let a round go by without virtue signalling on a social justice cause. Despite the organisation’s recent scandals, with a prominent player trying to escape justice at the AFL tribunal, its diversity officer resigning for on field violence and two of its executives resigning due to extra marital affairs, it is still eager to preach to the rest of us about how horrible and bigoted we all are and force a leftist agenda down its fans throat.
Last week the AFL had its gay pride match, this weekend it is their annual Multicultural Round. To celebrate the AFL announced that each game this weekend will be played with a special edition Sherrin Football, with each ball in a different language. Excuse me but shouldn’t part of multiculturalism and integration in Australia involve migrants learning to speak English? Why should having our footballs in another language be needed to make them feel welcome?
To celebrate the 2017 AFL Toyota Multicultural Round each game will be played with special edition Sherrin footballs!#ManyCulturesOneGame pic.twitter.com/vpTQuUm9Me
— AFL Diversity (@afldiversity) July 25, 2017
The official launch of AFL Multicultural Round happened yesterday in Parramatta where the MC for the event was yet another hijab wearing Muslim women Azmeena Hussain. She describes herself on Twitter as a Social Justice advocate. Imagine my shock that the AFL chose her of all people to launch their Multicultural Round!
Powerhouse MC @azmeenahussain speaking to an amazing panel of multicultural icons of our game #ManyCulturalOneGame https://t.co/TOuBJW8kce
— AFL Diversity (@afldiversity) July 25, 2017
It can certainly be argued that Multicultural Round can be called Muslim Round given they have been so eager to promote Muslim faces in their multicultural material over the years and on the AFL Multicultural website (I don’t want to give them any ideas). The AFL and our federal government fund the Bachar Houli Cup, which is designed to encourage Muslims in Western Sydney to play AFL, plus the AFL took part in Ramadan festivities.
In addition to Multicultural Round the AFL has Indigenous Round and has previously had Women’s Round and a Green Round. Let’s not forget its great Chinese experiment this year playing an AFL match in China with great expense that could barely muster 10,000 people, many who were Australians who had flown in.
All these diversity rounds are all extremely patronising to all AFL fans. Yes, there have been some unfortunate incidents of racism at games, but the code has always been welcome to players of other cultures for many decades and has a rich history of indigenous players. There have been scarce cases of actual racial discrimination at football clubs themselves. Who really cares what race the players are, let’s judge them on their on-field performance.
The AFL has been one of the worst practitioners of identity politics as it has celebrated every first player from a minority group in their league. Much was made of West Coast’s Nic Naitanui was the first AFL player for Fijian descent and Majak Daw was celebrated as the first AFL player of Sudanese decent. Thought the AFL still hasn’t got their first openly gay AFL player despite eager to say they are ready for one.
One hopes that given the scandals the AFL has endured this season that they may reflect on all this social activism they are doing and maybe decide to put the focus back on the football. But that of course is too much to hope from a leftist organisation, it appears like many other cultural institutions in this nation it has been hijacked by the left and there is not much going back.
The only thing that might save it is a fans’ revolt against all this political correctness and identity politics in the game. It is the people’s game and the AFL should treat their own fans with a bit more respect and stop this constant preaching.