{"id":113208,"date":"2025-09-02T13:03:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T13:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/113208\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T13:03:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T13:03:12","slug":"izak-rankine-the-banned-afl-star-says-he-is-not-a-victim-after-flying-into-adelaide-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/113208\/","title":{"rendered":"Izak Rankine: The banned AFL star says he is not a victim after flying into Adelaide Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Banned Crows star Izak Rankine says he is \u201cin no way a victim\u201d after he arrived back in Australia from Rome to face a media storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to start by saying how sorry I am for what I said. There was no excuse. It was wrong, and I take full responsibility,\u201d he said at Adelaide Airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed in myself, and I know I\u2019ve let a lot of people down.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI want to apologise to anyone I\u2019ve hurt, and to my family. I understand that the word I used is offensive, harmful, it\u2019s hurtful, and it has no place in our game or our society.<\/p>\n

Rankine – who looked visibly distressed as he read the prepared statement after flying in from Italy where he had spent more than week to avoid media scrutiny – made clear he wanted no sympathy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am in no way a victim, but stepping away has given me the space to reflect and educate myself to understand the weight of my mistake. I am fully committed to bettering myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next few days, I will be standing in front of my teammates and the AFLW (Crows team) and apologising to them personally, as they deserve that at the very least.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom here, all I can do is put my head down, work hard, and support my teammates in the best way I can and show through my actions that I am growing and learning from my mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than anything, I want this club to succeed. I\u2019ve been doing everything I can to regain everyone\u2019s trust and have a positive impact on society and my supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rankine, cutting a forlorn figure, then finished the minute-long press conference with a quiet \u201cthank you\u201d and walked off without taking any questions.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old, who was chosen in the All-Australian squad but not the final team last week, was banned for four games after making a homophobic slur towards a Collingwood player in the penultimate round of the AFL.<\/p>\n

Adelaide teammate Tex Walker, who was embroiled in his own racism saga in 2021, said before Rankine flew in on Tuesday the ordeal would make the young star a better person.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be able to learn about how powerful words can be, not just the individual but the community,\u201d he told 7News.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil we are in a box or six feet under we are always going to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IzakIzak Rankine faces the media in Adelaide. Credit: Unknown\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Several commentators lashed the AFL and league chief executive Andrew Dillon for backing away from a proposed five-match ban, after hearing \u201ccompelling medical submissions\u201d that included the impact on Rankine\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

On the day his ban was announced last month, a day out from the start of the final round, Rankine said he was \u201ccommitted to educating myself and being better\u201d<\/p>\n

The ban was confirmed after a drawn-out process during which the Crows argued that finals games counted for more after the AFL proposed a five-game penalty.<\/p>\n

It means the Crows need to lose their home qualifying final against Collingwood on Thursday night, then win a semifinal and preliminary final for Rankine to be available for the grand final.<\/p>\n

In accepting his penalty, Rankine did apologise last month via a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI regret using the word and I am very sorry for doing so, and that type of language has no place in football or the community,\u201d Rankine said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a mistake and I have apologised to the Collingwood player, and what happened does not reflect my values or those of the club.<\/p>\n

\"RankineRankine has returned home from his overseas trip, speaking publicly for the first time since he was suspended for a homophobic slur. Credit: Mark Brake\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m committed to educating myself and being better.\u201d<\/p>\n

In what amounted to a plea deal the ban came nearly two days after the AFL proposed a five-match ban in line with other recent penalties.<\/p>\n

But the Crows were given extra time to form a response and cited the impending grand final performance of US rapper Snoop Dogg, pitching it as hypocrisy given his history of homophobic remarks.<\/p>\n

Rankine, who called his Magpie opponent a \u201cf****t\u201d didn\u2019t leave his home for days after being interviewed by the AFL\u2019s integrity department, with a full week of focus on his actions.<\/p>\n

The AFL said Rankine \u201crang the Collingwood player to personally apologise and he fully co-operated with the subsequent investigation\u201d, which impacted its decision.<\/p>\n

The league also said the \u201ccompelling medical submissions\u201d made by Rankine played a role in the size of the suspension being smaller than other offenders.<\/p>\n

AFL chief executive Dillon described Rankine\u2019s behaviour as unacceptable, while attempting to defend the league\u2019s decision to ban Rankine for four games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a compelling medical submission but I will not go into the detail,\u201d Dillon said last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a significant sanction. We had an investigation … it is behaviour that is not acceptable. Izak Rankine has admitted that, Adelaide Crows have made a statement on that, that\u2019s what\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AFL said the slur was simply unacceptable in the modern game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe language used was offensive, hurtful and highly inappropriate. Our players have a very clear understanding of what is acceptable on the football field. Importantly, in this instance it was called out by players and acknowledged by Izak himself as wrong \u2013 and that reflects the standards we expect and demand in our game,\u201d AFL general counsel Stephen Meade said when the ban was revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIzak has said he knew it was not acceptable. Adelaide have said they know it is not acceptable. In an AFL environment, this behaviour is not acceptable. Homophobia has no place in football. The suspension is significant, but stamping out vilification in our game is incredibly important. Everyone in football understands the rules, and there are consequences of breaching them.<\/p>\n

\"BannedBanned Crows star Izak Rankine says he is \u201cin no way a victim\u201d after he arrived back in Australia to face a media storm. Credit: Mark Brake\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise this is a challenging time for the players and clubs involved, and appropriate support has been offered. But our responsibility is also to every player, official and fan who deserves respect when they come to our game. In 2025, the players know this more than anyone.<\/p>\n

Crows chief executive Tim Silvers, when the ban was announced, expressed nervousness for Rankine\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

Rankine was the sixth AFL-listed player banned for an on-field homophobic comment in the past 16 months.<\/p>\n

In July, West Coast\u2019s Jack Graham was banned four games for for an homophobic remark to a GWS player after reporting himself to the AFL.<\/p>\n

In April last year, Port Adelaide\u2019s Jeremy Finlayson was suspended for three games and, the following month, Gold Coast\u2019s Wil Powell was suspended five matches, both for making homophobic slurs to opponents.<\/p>\n

Two VFL players – Sydney\u2019s Riak Andrew (five games) and St Kilda\u2019s Lance Collard (six matches) have also recently been banned for on-field homophobic comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Banned Crows star Izak Rankine says he is \u201cin no way a victim\u201d after he arrived back in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-113208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sport","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}