If Eddie McGuire's mindless and zoned-out media moment taught us
anything then surely the obvious lesson is that some individuals in this
great game remain greater than the game itself.
Offering one's resignation has become something of a habit
for club chiefs during this tumultuous and scandal-ridden AFL season,
but there was no better bet than McGuire on Thursday winning the backing
of his board and the endorsement of league chief Andrew Demetriou.
The AFL chief executive admitted he had spoken too soon in
playing down the hurtful racist remark aimed at Adam Goodes on Triple M
breakfast radio early on Wednesday, but the fact remained that
Demetriou's default position was to defend McGuire.
Collingwood will not suspend McGuire any more than Essendon will stand
down James Hird. Had McGuire's name been Greg Westaway (St Kilda) or
Steve Harris (Fremantle) he would have stepped down by now at the very
least pending a racial vilification charge - which Demetriou confirmed
for McGuire on Thursday.
Had Matthew Knights, not Hird, overseen the pharmacologically
experimental program at Essendon, never adequately checked nor
controlled and which still sees players not fully aware of what they
have taken and facing bans from anti-doping authorities, then he would
be finished.
But Hird is too big and has chosen to place himself above his
club, believing himself now to be its saviour. Only the AFL has the
strength to take on the Essendon legend but the prevailing view is that
the league too remains beholden to the court of public opinion.
It must at the very least discipline McGuire. Goodes as it
stood on Thursday had no intention of further mediation with the
Collingwood president given the two had already spoken and McGuire's
apology had been reluctantly accepted by the Swans champion.
Goodes told his coach he planned to play on Saturday and
believes for now that he has said enough. Most people thought after last
Saturday Goodes had said enough for his entire career. McGuire on the
other hand has barely stopped talking since his hurtful comment.
If McGuire has escaped lightly in tangible terms, the same
cannot be said for Matt Rendell, the former Adelaide recruiting chief
who was sacked by the Crows 15 months ago following a private meeting
with two AFL officials in which Rendell allegedly invoked a scenario in
which only indigenous players with one white parent would be taken by
clubs.
Rendell has always denied much of what was attributed to him
as well as the tone of the conversation but he was sacked no sooner than
the media exposed him.
McGuire has pointed to his strong history fighting indigenous
causes; Rendell too could claim that. But he lost his job. That is how
it is when you deeply offend members of a race that has been bullied and
mistreated and discriminated against for two centuries now.
It is true that McGuire has been publicly pilloried and
humiliated - although his discomfort was nothing compared with Goodes,
who must continue to demonstrate leadership in a different form at the
SCG on Saturday.
But surely the day draws nearer for the AFL to demonstrate
the leadership the game expects of it and do so without discriminating
against the lesser lights nor favouring the powerful.
theage.com.au 31 May 2013
A typical example of how racism is condoned by the 'authorities'.
Eddie McGuire should have been sacked on the spot.
In the real world of the masses, one would be given notice immediately for this kind of remark.
Australia's Anglo-Masonic Westminster legal system IS racist, but behind closed doors.
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