Eddie Betts has maintained a dignified silence this week after yet more sickening abuse from fans at last weekend's showdown between his Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide.
While the AFL issued its standard condemnations and at least one fan has had his membership rescinded, the man at the centre of it all had not been heard from, until he spoke to Adelaide radio station 5AA on Thursday morning.
"Stuff like this wrecks it," Betts said. "We want to make footy an enjoyable place to go and support your team, win or lose. There is racial abuse and it's not kid-friendly. It's just not a great place to be.
"Enough is enough. It's racism and we want to stomp it out of the game. It affects me but it affects people around me more."
Led by AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, the football community has expressed overwhelming support for Betts this week.
Fantastic show of support to Eddie Betts from @MickOLoughlin and the kids at the National #DiversityChamps17 today. It's all about respect. pic.twitter.com/yGlXb6KHVy
— AFL NSW/ACT (@aflnswact) 11 de abril de 2017
Despite this, Betts said his wife Anna had been reduced to tears by the week's events.
"Our kids are Indigenous and they will have to grow up with this stuff as well," he said.
"Tough week"
— FIVEaa (@1395FIVEaa) 12 de abril de 2017
Eddie Betts reveals impact of race disgrace on his family https://t.co/J9UYAu7Nqm pic.twitter.com/nUqhjkO3Nr
Betts has been subjected to racist taunts numerous times across his ongoing 13-year AFL career, which currently spans 256 games.
In 2016 after a "fan" threw a banana at him, he memorably said "No one is born racist. It is ingrained in them somewhere down the track. It all comes down to that, to be educated".
The education process is clearly not complete yet -- something we sadly all learned a couple of years ago when the AFL urged people to stop booing Adam Goodes, and when Sydney Swans officials said the booing was an expression of racism, yet people kept booing ever louder.
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