A landmark class action case has been launched against the AFL, alleging that it failed to protect players from racist abuse during their time playing the game.
The class action, in which former North Melbourne great Phil Krakouer is the lead applicant, includes at least six others footballers who played between 1975 and 2022.
In court documents filed in Victoria’s supreme court late on Friday, the retired players claimed the AFL failed to protect them from racial abuse and vile taunts that they allege has caused them life-altering damage.
They allege the AFL knew or ought to have known of the immediate and long-term consequences of experiencing racial vilification, both physical and verbal, on players.
A spokesperson for the AFL said it had not been served with any documents or been provided with any information regarding a class action.
“If any formal correspondence is served on us we will review it,” they said. “Until that occurs, we are unable to make any comment.”
It comes days after Krakouer, 63, was inducted into the West Australian football hall of fame.
He moved from WA’s Claremont to the Kangaroos with his brother, Jim, in the early 1980s, playing in what was then the VFL. He played 141 games for the club and seven for Footscray, now the Western Bulldogs.
Krakouer topped North Melbourne’s goal-kicking list three times during his career. He was just 22 when he joined the senior league.
“I was completely naive and full of dreams,” Krakouer said in a media statement. “I was hoping that great things were going to happen … the AFL [allegedly] allowed us to be abused and traumatised.”
Krakouer said he and the other players, who have chosen to remain anonymous, wanted their experience to be validated by the AFL.
“For decades Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people of colour have been racially abused while playing AFL, and we feel the AFL [allegedly] sat back and watched it all go by,” he said
“We don’t want to feel like victims any more.”
The managing principal of Margalit Injury Lawyers, Michel Margalit, who is also running a separate class action against the AFL for concussion and brain trauma, is acting on behalf of the players.
They include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and/or people of colour who played football or were employed or engaged by the VFL and AFL between 1975 and 2022, who experienced racism, racial vilification, racial discrimination, racial abuse or victimisation in the league.
The Racial Discrimination Act was enacted in 1975, making racism unlawful in Australia.
Margalit said while the AFL had taken steps to address racism, she alleged not enough had been done for past players.
“Racial vilification has been a known tactic of play within AFL games,” she said.
“This tactic is reprehensible and has caused lifelong scars to our clients.”
She said the racial abuse allegedly suffered by players was extreme – “not just words, but repugnant physical acts such as spitting and violence”.
There have been several allegations of racism raised by past and present AFL players in recent years, including those that resulted in an independent investigation into the Hawthorn football club that was handed down in May.
No adverse findings were found, but families at the centre of the investigation are pursuing their claims with the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Collingwood also commissioned the “Do Better” report in 2021 after several historical instances of alleged racism were raised, leading to significant change and reckoning at the club.
In June, a report revealed many AFL and AFLW players believed a “culture of silence” permeated through the game, leaving them fearful of the potential consequences of speaking out about important issues such as racism.
