While many sports have historically had homophobia run deep within them at many levels, Australian rules football has been a particular point of scrutiny by LGBT advocates.
[1] Players at non-professional level have come out, including Jason Ball, and he launched a campaign to tackle homophobia in Australian rules football.
[2][3] However, the first player to come out to the public was a man named Matt Hall, who contracted HIV in 1996 and was banned from the Victorian Amateur Football Association due to his diagnosis.
[20] The AFL escalated the penalty for Powell to send a clear message that homophobic language will not be tolerated, with general counsel Stephen Meade stating: "homophobia has no place in our game, nor in society.
[20] Earlier in the 2024 season, North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson was fined A$20,000 for an alleged homophobic comment towards two St Kilda players.