This may be jumping at shadows, but it needs to be asked. Is the AFL frightened?
The league would never admit it, but some around football argue privately it has turned its back when Australia most needs it because it’s nervous about a vitriolic public reaction.
First responders of the Bondi terror attack and Ahmed Al Ahmed, the hero who wrestled a gun from one of the shooters, are acknowledged during the 2026 AFL Opening Round match between the Sydney Swans and the Carlton Blues at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.Credit: Getty Images
And the cause being effectively ignored comes readily under the league’s catchcry: it’s about decency and fairness. It is antisemitism and the fracturing of social cohesion.
Over the two years those cracks have widened, the AFL has been unusually quiet, with the exception of one brief statement after the Bondi killings. Why?
Has it not dawned on the league, so often the community’s moral guardian, that it has a role to play here?
It seems unlikely, but is it plausible that it is spooked by the danger of a negative reaction from those so angry about Gaza they can’t have empathy for Jews who have nothing to do with it?
Neither prospect is flattering. But the question is reasonable: why has the AFL not done more to encourage social cohesion?
It’s not too late. Antisemitism has worsened in Australia since the October 2023 massacre of almost 1500 innocent Jews and the kidnapping of 251 men, women and children that led to the war in Gaza.
It is again emerging around the war with Iran.
And this is what seems to elude some who chant offensive slogans and wave posters of terrorists in the streets: whatever your view of what some claim is an aggressive form of defence by the Israeli government – and there is much to question – that has nothing to do with Australian Jews and their right to be treated decently.
Jewish kids are frightened. Adults are in tears, and such is their isolation many are questioning whether they are still Australian.
We were warned. Former Victoria governor Linda Dessau, herself a former AFL commissioner and a Jewish woman, effectively predicted the terrorist attack months early.
She, and indeed ASIO, called on leaders and the community to stand against the growing hatred. Not enough did. The cracks widened. Where was the AFL?
Over the years, the league has been quick to support difficult causes. Rightly, it stands against homophobia. It abhors racism. It “proudly” supported a “Yes” vote in the Voice referendum.
Some players in 2020 “took a knee” as part of a campaign sparked by the killing of a black American man, George Floyd, in a city 15,000 kilometres away in the United States.
True, it has been off season since the Bondi killings, but this hatred started more than two years ago, and the AFL has long been proud and proactive with its social conscience.
Kangaroos player Harry Sheezel (front), a Jewish man, was targeted with antisemitic comments online after he was drafted in 2022.Credit: Getty Images
When young North Melbourne player Harry Sheezel, a Jewish man, was targeted with antisemitic bile in 2022, the AFL said it was “deplorable and unacceptable”.
But there’s a different mood now. The street protests and social media have turned nasty. At times Jews are targeted simply for being Jews.
Antisemites have been emboldened and opposing them has become unfashionable. Speaking for decency at times is spun into supporting everything evil about capitalism, imperialism and colonialism.
Political criticism, too, often blurs with antisemitism.
It’s true that after the Bondi massacre, the AFL did post online a brief statement calling for people to stand with “Jewish colleagues and friends”. It is not enough.
On Thursday, before the year’s first game, the Swans held a moment’s silence to honour those killed at Bondi.
It was the initiative of the club, not the AFL. In the middle of the ground, club chief executive Matthew Pavlich said: “At the Sydney Swans, everyone is welcome.” AFL executives watched from the boundary with other guests.
The league knows how to run a campaign and it should have started two years ago. Thursday’s tribute should not have been left to the Swans.
There could have been messaging across games, not pro-Israeli but a “stand together” campaign aimed at bringing people together in the way football supporters put aside any differences to unite behind their team colours.
Carlton AFLW players in their Pride Round guernseys in 2024. From left: Marianna Anthony, Keeley Sherar, Darcy Vescio and Jess Dal Poss.Credit: Penny Stephens
The league has a vast audience on digital platforms. Use that.
If ever there was a need for a sports organisation that claims to have a deep social conscience to stand with those who need support, and to tell the rest to cut the bile, it is now.
We may never know why, but it seems strange that the AFL, an organisation willing to campaign on controversial issues, has not done more.
Gerard Healy is a Brownlow medallist and member of the AFL Hall of Fame. He is a decent man, football royalty.
The situation so stung him this week he delivered a rare current affairs editorial on sports station SEN.
In the shorthand fashion of sportsmen, he referred warmly to the Jewish community as “the J com” . It might stick.
He talked about the need to support people with handshakes, hugs and telephone calls. He talked about small gestures carrying great power. He said Jews needed to know “we have their backs”.
And this off air: “It’s up to all of us. But hearing from the AFL would be a great start.”
A few days ago, the AFL website reported how Fremantle Dockers players are supporting a young Muslim player, Adam Sweid, by giving up something for Ramadan. Each has written on a white board what they are foregoing as a gesture of public support for their teammate, things like alcohol and mobile phones.
It’s a good idea, inclusive and supportive. But let’s be consistent: the “J com” desperately needs the same. So where’s the AFL?
Neil Mitchell is a journalist, podcaster and former 3AW morning radio host for more than 30 years.
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