North-West Football League president Andrew Richardson has described the behaviour of the three Penguin Football Club players who dressed in blackface as a “disgrace”.
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The players were photographed wearing black body and face paint to dress up as tennis players Serena and Venus Williams and AFL player Aliir Aliir for the club’s Mad Monday end of season celebrations.
“It’s totally unacceptable to us as a league,” Mr Richardson said.
“It’s important that we educate all players and these in particular as to why it’s not okay.”
Blackface is when a non-black person uses makeup to appear as a person of colour.
Mr Richardson said he was looking to work with AFL Tasmania to see what educational programs they could put in place.
“It’s not an acceptable message, which is another reason why we need to make sure they understand everything,” he said.
Mr Richardson said it was too early to talk about the penalties the players would face.
“We will sit down as a competition and take it from there,” he said.
One of the players shared the image online to a Facebook page dedicated to highlighting Mad Monday costumes across the country. The photo was posted to the page with the caption, 'Williams sisters and Aliir Aliir #MadMonday'.
AFL Tasmania chief executive Trisha Squires said the league didn’t support the behaviour.
“It is not acceptable behaviour, and we vehemently disapprove of it,” Ms Squires said.
“We will be working with the league and club to get more information and to see how we can assist in providing education for the players.”