Port Adelaide condemns 'vile' sexual violence threat contained in racist messages to Jase Burgoyne
On the weekend, Burgoyne and St Kilda star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera became the latest AFL players to highlight racist abuse they had received from online trolls.
The Power and the Saints today said Burgoyne and Wanganeen-Milera were considering possible next steps, and that both clubs would support any decision by their players to raise the matters with police.
The clubs and the AFL yesterday condemned the abuse, with AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon lambasting "cowardly" trolls who "hide behind" fake social media accounts.
The messages to Burgoyne, which the ABC has decided not to detail, contained explicit and sexual references about a member of the young Power player's family, and were riddled with racial abuse.
Power general manager of football Chris Davies described the messages as "disgusting" and "vile", and said the club would support Burgoyne in "whatever he wants to do" — including potentially reporting the matter to police.
"We've got to respect our players enough to make it a little bit easier for them to be able to report these types of things, and maybe, into the future, some laws will have to change as well."
The messages received by Burgoyne and Wanganeen-Milera contained references to their disposal tallies, and Davies was today asked whether gambling was fanning the flames of toxic trolling.
He acknowledged the impact of sports betting on the level of anonymous aggression towards players.
He recounted an instance in which he had been talking to former Power players Trent McKenzie and Charlie Dixon after a game.
"They were reading me the stuff that they'd got from a couple of people who had clearly bet on the outcome of a game," Davies said.
"It was just phenomenal listening to it.
On Monday, Andrew Dillon had an unequivocal message for trolls who target players: "Our game does not want you."
"Real fans don't racially abuse players," the league's chief executive said.
"We have been clear that there is absolutely no place for this behaviour in our sport and in society.
"Racism is never acceptable, and these incidents demonstrate there is so much more work to be done."
Asked whether the AFL needed to respond with greater vigour, Davies said he thought "we can all do more".
"Into the future, the AFL will be doing more than what they are right now, but that's not to say they're not dealing with the current situation," he said.
"The AFL have got a responsibility here to help the clubs to make these issues easier for the players involved, if we're really keen to try and stamp it out.
"We're having that conversation with the AFL, we're having that conversation with South Australian police. I know the AFL are having it with the respective police units in each state."
The ABC has contacted the AFL for further comment.
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