{"id":668778,"date":"2026-05-13T18:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/668778\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:58:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:58:18","slug":"afl-news-2026-sydney-swans-abandon-pride-game-with-st-kilda-following-handling-of-lance-collard-case-club-statements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/668778\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL news 2026 | Sydney Swans abandon Pride Game with St Kilda following handling of Lance Collard case, club statements"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sydney Swans<\/a> will not partake in their designated Pride Game against St Kilda<\/a> this season due to the latter’s handling of the Lance Collard case earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Collard was hit with a lengthy nine-game ban that was later reduced to two weeks<\/a> following an investigation into his use of homophobic slurs during a VFL game.<\/p>\n

The Saints stood in support of their young athlete throughout investigations into the matter, with the club maintaining the stance that Collard was innocent.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: The dozen dominoes still to fall after shock Cleary decision<\/a><\/p>\n

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READ MORE: ‘Mindful’ coach’s admission as Origin shield up for grabs<\/a><\/p>\n

It was the second time in three years that the 21-year-old had been hit with a ban for an offence relating to the use of homophobic language.<\/p>\n

The decision received mixed reaction online and has now resulted in the end of a 10-year-long partnership between the Saints and Swans, with their annual pride game no longer taking place due to St Kilda’s language used to defend Collard’s actions.<\/p>\n

The Swans will now play their Pride Game against the Western Bulldogs in round 17.<\/p>\n

“Since 2016, the Sydney Swans have been proud to host Pride Game at the SCG, celebrating inclusivity with our LGBTIQA+ community,” the Swans said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“It is one of the most significant matches on our calendar and resonates deeply with our LGBTIQA+ supporter base and the wider Pride community.<\/p>\n

“In consultation with the Rainbow Swans, members of the LGBTIQA+ community and the St Kilda football club, we felt it was appropriate to shift our 2026 Pride Match to ensure the game has the positive impact that is intended.”<\/p>\n

St Kilda acknowledged the Swans’ decision on Wednesday evening, with the club saying it “would have preferred” the event to continue as plan.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The rainbow jersey of a Swans player is seen as part of the Pride round last season.\u00a0via Getty Images<\/p>\n

St Kilda said its commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community remained unchanged.<\/p>\n

“St Kilda has a long and proud history of inclusion,” St Kilda chief executive Carl Dilena said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Alongside Sydney, we helped establish the AFL Pride Game in 2016 because we believe football should be a place where everyone feels welcome, safe and respected. These values are important for our staff, our players, our fans and our community.<\/p>\n

“We are proud advocates of respect and inclusion and remain committed to continuing that work across our club and community.<\/p>\n

“Importantly, the change to the Pride Game this year does not alter our commitment.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sydney Swans will not partake in their designated Pride Game against St Kilda this season due to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":668779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-668778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668778","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=668778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}