Umpires urged to speak up on abuse

FEMALE and non-binary umpires across Australia have been invited to report cases of sexual harassment and abuse directly to the AFL in the fallout of an explosive leaked report.

The AFL used its third statement since News Corp exclusively published a 62-page document on an extreme shortage of female umpires to issue a formal apology to “any woman who suffers harassment or sexism of any kind”.

Acting AFL chief executive Kylie Rogers (pictured) – who read the report when it was completed in August last year – described the findings as “horrific”.

She regretted the decision to keep it hidden and said News Corp’s revelations would “no doubt” make community matches a safer place.

Rogers said she had checked to see how AFL umpires Eleni Glouftis and Chelsea Roffey were coping on Tuesday and thanked them for their bravery and input in the document – “Girls and women in Australian football umpiring: understanding registration, participation and retention”.

One female umpire told the report: “A supporter yelled out, ‘Why don’t you open your eyes instead of your legs, you stupid slut!’ I took it to the league and they didn’t even cop a fine or anything, so I moved to (another league).”

But Rogers said community umpires could now escalate such issues to the AFL Integrity Unit instead of relying on local leagues for a resolution.

One of the document’s 11 recommendations made to the AFL was to research the implementation of a centralised reporting tool, which would identify trends in discrimination.

“On behalf of the game we apologise to any woman who suffers harassment or sexism of any kind and we would encourage them to report it to their local club, to their league or to the AFL itself,” Rogers said.

The AFL came under fire on Monday for failing to acknowledge the victims among the 27 female and non-binary umpires who courageously shared their distressing stories for the investigation, which was conducted by The University of Sydney.

On behalf of the AFL, Rogers said sorry 45 hours after the story was broken.

“I was always going to apologise,” Rogers said.

“In reading the report the findings are horrific, and we take any form of sexism or harassment very seriously.

“From the bottom of my heart, I apologise.”

Females represent just 10.8 per cent of umpires nationally and, as of 2019, only 2.6 per cent at AFL level.

The AFL wants to get to 40 per cent nationally – but is refusing to set a deadline.

Shortly, the league will table its Women and Girls Game Development Action Plan to the AFL Commission.

“Hopefully that will be ratified shortly and then once we start to invest we might be able to put a timeline on it,” Rogers said.

“We commissioned the report because the growth in female umpires is not commensurate with the growth in female players.”