Adam SutcliffeNRL Racism, Panthers Petero Civoniceva in storm
July 11th 2008 15:13
Racism Unfortunately Returns
Petero Civoniceva was racially abused by a spectator in the crowd at Parramatta Stadium last Sunday. He was called a “monkey”. Civoniceva asked the fan to repeat what he had just said and he did. "I lost my cool," Civoniceva said. "I can cop some abuse but not like that. I hit the beer away. I'm disappointed I did it. There were young families close by and I don't want the kids being scarred with that memory of going to the footy. I will write a letter to Parramatta to apologise to the families who saw it."
"We will take up the matter with the Parramatta Stadium Trust," Eels CEO Denis Fitzgerald said. "Hopefully we can identify the culprits and then take the appropriate action. That would be banning them from Parramatta Stadium for at least the balance of the season. We are disgusted with the behaviour of one of our patrons in making derogatory comments towards Petero Civoniceva. We are doing everything possible to identify the person and I would like to appeal to them to come forward voluntarily so that they can apologise directly to Petero. The Parramatta Eels are a proudly multicultural club and it is unacceptable that our standing has been tarnished in this manner. "
NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley described the behaviour as "completely unacceptable". "We would ban those responsible from all NRL matches because this behaviour is completely unacceptable," Annesley said. "If the culprits have any shred of common decency, they should come forward and apologise for their actions."
Penrith chief executive Mick Leary said police who were on duty at the ground should have been called in on the matter by security. "The situation was that a serious allegation had been made," Leary said. "The procedure should be that the people the allegation was made against are asked for their ID. Security could have asked for it, but they wouldn't have the power to demand it. They should have brought the police down to talk to the two people. We have so many indigenous, ethnics and Polynesians in the game now that we can't afford this to happen."
The incident has upset officials in Fiji. "It is sad that racism is still well and alive today," Fiji National Rugby League chairman Peni Musunamasi said. "We cannot begin to imagine what Petero is going through right now, he is very shy but humble and only loves to play."
Petero Civoniceva was racially abused by a spectator in the crowd at Parramatta Stadium last Sunday. He was called a “monkey”. Civoniceva asked the fan to repeat what he had just said and he did. "I lost my cool," Civoniceva said. "I can cop some abuse but not like that. I hit the beer away. I'm disappointed I did it. There were young families close by and I don't want the kids being scarred with that memory of going to the footy. I will write a letter to Parramatta to apologise to the families who saw it."
"We will take up the matter with the Parramatta Stadium Trust," Eels CEO Denis Fitzgerald said. "Hopefully we can identify the culprits and then take the appropriate action. That would be banning them from Parramatta Stadium for at least the balance of the season. We are disgusted with the behaviour of one of our patrons in making derogatory comments towards Petero Civoniceva. We are doing everything possible to identify the person and I would like to appeal to them to come forward voluntarily so that they can apologise directly to Petero. The Parramatta Eels are a proudly multicultural club and it is unacceptable that our standing has been tarnished in this manner. "
NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley described the behaviour as "completely unacceptable". "We would ban those responsible from all NRL matches because this behaviour is completely unacceptable," Annesley said. "If the culprits have any shred of common decency, they should come forward and apologise for their actions."
Penrith chief executive Mick Leary said police who were on duty at the ground should have been called in on the matter by security. "The situation was that a serious allegation had been made," Leary said. "The procedure should be that the people the allegation was made against are asked for their ID. Security could have asked for it, but they wouldn't have the power to demand it. They should have brought the police down to talk to the two people. We have so many indigenous, ethnics and Polynesians in the game now that we can't afford this to happen."
The incident has upset officials in Fiji. "It is sad that racism is still well and alive today," Fiji National Rugby League chairman Peni Musunamasi said. "We cannot begin to imagine what Petero is going through right now, he is very shy but humble and only loves to play."
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