Butters placed on report for directing abuse at Foot<\/a> in the heat of battle during Port Adelaide\u2019s clash with St Kilda.<\/p>\nBut also an ugly \u2018he says, he says\u2019 case where one of the two parties will effectively be deemed a \u201cliar.\u201d <\/p>\n
‘Neither of them are backing down’ Lyon | 06:27<\/p>\n
Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph explained the sequence of events on a \u201cday of high drama\u201d at AFL House on Monday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Lance Collard 2.0, because those two versions of the event are so diametrically opposed,\u201d Ralph said on Fox Footy\u2019s AFL Tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a day of high drama at AFL House. Initially it was believed maybe Foot just misheard what Butters said, Butters was so categoric on TV. Foot lodged the complaint and the AFL considered their options .<\/p>\n
\u201cPort Adelaide did well to say Zak maybe he said: \u2018Where did they pluck that from?\u2019 Or \u2018how did they pay that free kick?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when Foot got back into Melbourne, he was so categoric about it. He wasn\u2019t prepared to back down from his allegation that was much stronger.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd \u2018how much are they paying you\u2019 goes to the absolute heart of his integrity. It\u2019s not a cheating allegation, but it\u2019s pretty much getting there in his point of view. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe AFL gave both parties a couple of hours to consider and if someone wanted to concede their ground, they knew a tribunal hearing would be potentially damaging. But both parties stuck fat and that\u2019s where we are tomorrow night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leigh doubts HUGE Butters price tag | 02:30<\/p>\n
Ralph said the \u201celephant in the room\u201d is that Foot is employed by Sportsbet and does racing tips, which the AFL has given him approval to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s meant he\u2019s suffered a torrent of abuse online today, people making all kinds of comments,\u201d Ralph added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Butters, by all accounts, didn\u2019t know that connection. So it wasn\u2019t like it was an off-handed quip about that, he wasn\u2019t aware of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AFL higher ups say (Foot is) a man of great integrity, he knows the line, he knows the risk, he goes nowhere near football betting or anything like that, even football tips.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, Foot isn\u2019t some kind of shrinking violet who would have been upset by someone quipping at him. He\u2019s a person who has umpired nearly 270 AFL games including the 2024 Grand Final.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would not be following through on this complaint if he wasn\u2019t absolutely explicit about what he thought was said and I imagine he\u2019d make that case really strongly tomorrow night.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately for Zak Butters, even though it\u2019s maybe only a couple of thousand dollars in terms of a fine, I think it\u2019s really hard to see how the AFL and AFL Tribunal won\u2019t back their man to the hill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Could Caddy be Tassie’s marquee signing? | 01:08<\/p>\n
Port Adelaide added in its statement that it was \u201cdisappointed\u201d Foot refused Butters attempts to seek clarification in another curious layer.<\/p>\n
Clearly, it\u2019s a case that is going to come down to semantics, as put by former Demons skipper Garry Lyon. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned over many, many years is, it\u2019s not what Zak thinks he said, it\u2019s how it\u2019s received,\u201d Lyon said on Fox Footy\u2019s AFL 360.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe might think it\u2019s a smart alec remark. (Foot) might think: \u2018No, I\u2019m an independent arbiter, this is my job. You\u2019re suggesting I\u2019m getting paid. So let\u2019s deal with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends where you sit.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce upon a time the racial abuse used to be: \u2018Get over it\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about who\u2019s saying it, it\u2019s about who\u2019s receiving it and how they receive it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt feared it was a \u201close-lose\u201d scenario where \u201cno one wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Riewoldt thinks Foot is in a more favourable position with the backing of the AFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow on earth do you get to some sort of result out of this?,\u201d Riewoldt posed on Fox Footy\u2019s On the Couch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen all is said and done, either Zak Butters is going to be a liar, or Nick Foot is going to be a liar. And they\u2019ve got to live with that for the rest of their careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot at play with this. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy belief is Zak Butters is a bit of a sitting duck here with the way the AFL has worded their strong stance behind Nick Foot.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cox: “It would be great to stand alone!” | 02:00<\/p>\n
Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley questioned if the case would\u2019ve been better served with a \u201cconversation behind closed doors in a mediation sense,\u201d rather than a tribunal hearing. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt speaks a bit to the player-umpire relationship, does it not?,\u201d Buckley added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s been fractured in many ways for a couple of decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s getting better and better, umpires are spending more time down at clubs in pre-season. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat relationship is real important to continue to foster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Port Adelaide teammate Ollie Wines could also have a key role to play in Tuesday night\u2019s hearing as the only other person in the vicinity of the exchange. <\/p>\n
Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis suggested Wines\u2019 testimony might prove key, before questioning Foot\u2019s unwillingness to speak with Butters post match. <\/p>\n
\u201cOllie Wines is standing right there. In this instance, it doesn\u2019t look demonstrative. But Ollie Wines has got to hear it,\u201d Lewis said. <\/p>\n
\u201cA third person that comes into that conversation could prove Butters innocent or guilty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would\u2019ve liked Nick Foot to explain then and there what he thought Zak Butters had said and tried to have that conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be a bit dismissive and run away and say I\u2019m reporting you, that just leaves a player in limbo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re old enough and big enough to have a conversation the and there on what was said and potentially how he felt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The allegation that appeared on the AFL\u2019s official press release is Zak Butters said to umpire Nick Foot:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[294136,294144,638,294145,294147,64,63,689,55,13032,639,684,12148,294139,294141,10145,107302,17976,294146,1823,681,12415,39203,27288,294142,647,14426,294143,677,192243,294137,6082,294138,1124,85,2801,294140,23426,56,290633,281460,660,23510],"class_list":{"0":"post-604026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-abusive-language","9":"tag-abusive-language-charge","10":"tag-afl","11":"tag-agent-market","12":"tag-alec-remark","13":"tag-au","14":"tag-australia","15":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","16":"tag-australian-football-league","17":"tag-australian-football-league-house","18":"tag-australianfootballleague","19":"tag-ben-cotton","20":"tag-dean-cox","21":"tag-fascinating-tribunal-case","22":"tag-football-tips","23":"tag-garry-lyon","24":"tag-gary-lyon","25":"tag-hawk-jordan-lewis","26":"tag-independent-arbiter","27":"tag-jack-riewoldt","28":"tag-jon-ralph","29":"tag-lance-collard","30":"tag-leigh-matthews","31":"tag-marquee-signing","32":"tag-mediation-sense","33":"tag-melbourne","34":"tag-nate-caddy","35":"tag-nick-footy","36":"tag-oceania","37":"tag-official-press-release","38":"tag-player-umpire-relationship","39":"tag-port-adelaide","40":"tag-shrinking-violet","41":"tag-south-australia","42":"tag-sports","43":"tag-tasmania","44":"tag-team-breaks","45":"tag-tomorrow-night","46":"tag-tribunal-case","47":"tag-tribunal-hearing","48":"tag-ugly-truth","49":"tag-victoria","50":"tag-zak-butters"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604026","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=604026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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