AFL suspends Powell-Pepper

PORT Adelaide midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper has been suspended by the AFL for a further week following an alcohol-fuelled incident at an Adelaide nightclub.

An AFL investigation has found the 20-year-old engaged in conduct “unbecoming for an AFL player by being intoxicated in a public place and by making inappropriate contact with a female” this month.

He can resume playing at AFL level in next week’s game against West Coast, having accepted a three-game suspension which includes the two he missed while the investigation was ongoing. Powell-Pepper served a onegame club ban in Round 4 for breaking team rules by being drunk in a public place and out past curfew. He also chose to sit out last weekend’s match against Geelong.

Because his transgressions were off-field, however, Powell-Pepper was given the all-clear to play for Port Adelaide’s SANFL team in their Anzac Day game against Sturt yesterday.

Port chief executive Keith Thomas said the club was looking forward to providing an accurate assessment of what happened in the nightclub.