Untried Gold Coast ruckman Max Knobel has become the latest AFL-listed player to be investigated for an alleged homophobic slur.<\/p>\n
The alleged incident occurred during Gold Coast’s VFL match against Brisbane on Saturday, with the matter referred to the AFL’s integrity unit.<\/p>\n
If found guilty, Knobel \u2014 who is yet to make his AFL debut after previously spending time on Fremantle’s list \u2014 would face a sizeable ban.<\/p>\n
The AFL have been forced to act numerous times over recent years in their bid to stamp out homophobia.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Brisbane Lions draftee Koby Evans received a four-game ban<\/a> for directing a homophobic slur towards a VFL opponent.<\/p>\n AFL boss responds to appeal board drama<\/a><\/p>\n Both the AFL and the AFL Players’ Association hit back at suggestions from the appeals board that slurs are commonplace among players in the sport.<\/p>\n That came less than a fortnight after the league sacked its appeals board chairman Will Houghton after he said racist, sexist or homophobic language was “commonplace” in the AFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n Houghton made the comments while adjudicating a case involving St Kilda’s Lance Collard<\/a>.<\/p>\n Collard, who received a six-game ban two years ago for using homophobic language, was initially handed a seven-week suspension for another incident this year before it was reduced to two weeks on appeal.<\/p>\n The 21-year-old claimed he didn’t use a homophobic term in this year’s alleged incident.<\/p>\n