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AFL players have been warned of the dangers of exposing their personal and professional lives on social networking websites such as Facebook in the wake of the North Melbourne “chook sex video” scandal.
North chief executive Eugene Arocca said he was against his club’s players using Facebook – the website which first made public a video made by Kangaroos players which has been roundly condemned as degrading to women.
The four-minute video, which features a rubber chicken involved in sex acts, was first published on a Kangaroos player’s personal Facebook page.
It was then put on popular video sharing website YouTube, before the club took action on Wednesday to remove it following a furore over some scenes.
“We have to respect the personal space of players, but I think it’s a sobering reminder,” Arocca said.
“I’m personally against Facebook being used by the players. We’ll reinforce that message and it’s something the AFL Players Association probably needs to address also.
“It can be seen as impinging upon their personal space, but this is a good, sobering reminder how dangerous Facebook can be in certain circumstances.
The Kangaroos’ disastrous online experience is not the first to plague Australian sports stars.
Olympic champion swimmer Stephanie Rice was at the centre of a scandal last year, when pictures of her at a party in a skintight outfit with a police hat crossed over from her Facebook page to the public domain.
And the AFL Players Association has recently expressed concerns over fake Facebook profiles of leading players.
It claimed impersonators were posing as famous players and setting up profiles and pictures on internet networking sites.
In some cases the imposters answered fans’ questions and posted fictitious details about the players.
The AFL is furious and is demanding North Melbourne take disciplinary action against the players responsible for producing the chook sex video.
The film, roundly condemned as degrading to women, was made by a group of up to seven Kangaroos players during pre-season training and was watched by all players at the club.
It shows a rubber chicken manoeuvred by a human hand performing sex acts on a real chicken carcass, which is meant to depict a woman.
The rubber chicken wears a condom on its head in the four-minute film, titled The Adventures of Little Boris.
North has so far refused to name the players directly involved in making the video, and chief executive Eugene Arocca twice on Wednesday said no disciplinary action would be taken as the whole playing group had to take responsibility.
But the AFL, angry its attempts to be more inclusive towards women have been set back, issued what appeared a veiled threat to North that it needed to act.
AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said he was confident the league would not have to get involved in disciplining those involved.
“I don’t think that (the AFL having to take action itself) will be an issue because we’ve spoken with the Kangaroos … and the key players involved will be subject to discipline under their code of conduct,” Anderson said.
“The Kangaroos will be keeping us informed of their inquiries and exactly how they plan to deal with the disciplinary aspect under the code of conduct.
“The club’s made it very clear to me they understand this is insulting and demeaning towards women and they’re embarrassed, and they are taking appropriate action which will include disciplinary action against the key players involved.
“They acknowledge this is the sort of incident that brings the club into disrepute, it’s insulting and demeaning towards women, and it’s unacceptable.”
The video is set to the gangster rap song Move Bitch by US artist Ludacris.
The scenes at the centre of the furore involved the “woman” chicken being thrown against a wall and run over by a vehicle, before the “male” performs sex acts on the chicken carcass.
The revelation of the North Melbourne video and its misogynistic tone comes just days after Adelaide Crows defender Nathan Bock was charged with assaulting his girlfriend and banned indefinitely by his club.
Arocca said despite the video being offensive and embarrassing, no criminal conduct had been committed.
He said education rather than punishment was a more appropriate course of action, as well as the players’ own decision to make a donation to women’s charities.
“It was a foolish, misguided prank that is clearly offensive. We’re embarrassed and apologetic for that as a football club,” Arocca said.
“We’re going to take the opportunity to move forward, educate our players further about their responsibilities as players and as members of the community.”
The club’s senior players apologised on the team’s behalf for any offence caused by the video.
“We’re embarrassed about the whole situation. It’s a prank gone wrong, it was meant for our eyes, obviously it was the wrong thing to do,” midfielder Adam Simpson said.
“I can assure you it’s an aberration – it’s just not our footy club.”
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