Updated ,first published
Former AFL star Nicky Winmar has been expelled from the Australian Football Hall of Fame despite his iconic stand to stamp out racism in the game.
The AFL Commission revoked his membership after the former St Kilda champion’s recent conviction for assaulting a woman, while the Saints have suspended the club great from their Hall of Fame.
Winmar, 60, told News Corp that he planned to appeal against the conviction and was “devastated and extremely upset” by the league’s move.
The commission has the power to remove an inductee through amendments made to the Hall of Fame’s charter in 2023.
It can remove an inductee “if they have been charged with or found guilty of an indictable offence and/or if the inductee engages in conduct which the commission considers is prejudicial to the interests of the AFL or is conduct which brings the AFL, the inductee, or Australian Football into disrepute”.
The AFL has not used this power to remove North Melbourne great Wayne Carey, who was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2010 despite having been convicted of assaulting a female police officer in the US in 2007. That occurred after his then girlfriend Kate Neilson accused him of smashing a wine glass against her face. She did not press charges.
He pleaded guilty to indecent assault after grabbing a woman’s breast in 1995.
The AFL blocked Carey from being inducted as a legend in the NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2024 at a time when the league was taking a stance honouring victims of violence against women.
Winmar hit back at what he claimed were double standards by the AFL.
“Again, I am appealing the verdict, and would also like some clarity from the AFL as to why there are other players in the Australian Football Hall of Fame who have been found guilty of similar charges, and why I have been removed before the appeal has even been heard,” he told News Corp.
Carey’s offending happened before he was inducted and before the changes to the Hall of Fame charter in 2023, and the AFL has not used the power retrospectively.
The AFL removed football great Barry Cable from the Hall of Fame in 2023 and stripped him of his legend status after he was found in a civil trial to have sexually abused a Perth girl during his playing career. In a separate criminal trial relating to a different girl, Cable was found not guilty of historical child sex abuse charges dating back to the 1960s.
Cable was a two-time VFL premiership player with the North Melbourne Football Club in the 1970s.
Winmar, 60, was found guilty of three counts of assaulting a woman in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.
Winmar declined to comment when contacted by this masthead on Wednesday.
A dashing and highly skilled forward and wingman, Winmar played 251 games for the Saints and the Western Bulldogs.
He was a key figure in the AFL’s fight against racism in the 1990s after famously lifting his jumper and pointing to his skin during a game against Collingwood at Victoria Park in 1993 in which he was racially abused by Magpies supporters.
The AFL acknowledged Winmar’s contribution to the game in a statement on Wednesday, explaining why one of the game’s highest individual accolades was taken off him.
“The Australian Football Hall of Fame exists to recognise the highest achievements in our game and admission to it is one of the greatest honours Australian football can bestow,” AFL chairman Craig Drummond said.
“The commission has a responsibility to protect the integrity and reputation of that honour.
“Violence against women has no place. Not in our community, not in our game, and not in the values the Australian Football Hall of Fame seeks to uphold.
“The commission acknowledges Nicky Winmar’s significant contribution to Australian football and his place in our history. However, the recent findings against him render inappropriate his place in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.”
The Saints have not expelled Winmar from their Hall of Fame.
“A determination regarding Winmar’s ongoing place in the Hall of Fame will be made following the formal conclusion of the full legal process, including the completion of any appeal,” the Saints said in a statement released minutes after the AFL’s.
“Violence against women has no place in our community. Our thoughts are with anyone impacted by this matter.”
