EXCLUSIVE: Swans and AFL Said to be ‘Caught Off Guard’ by SCG’s ‘Overreaction’ to Teen’s Distasteful Incident

Eddie McGuire has described the Sydney Cricket Ground’s two-year ban on a 16-year-old spectator as an “overreaction,” following an incident involving Port Adelaide’s Aliir Aliir over the weekend.

During the match, which saw Port Adelaide triumph over Sydney, Aliir marked the ball on the goal line, at which point the fan seemingly tossed a banner at the Power player from beyond the fence.

The Port Adelaide star confronted the young fan, leading to the minor’s removal from the stadium and a warning from police.

In a surprising move, the SCG enforced a two-year ban on the fan without apparent consultation with either the AFL or the Swans.

McGuire expressed his belief that the ruling is excessively harsh and unjust towards a minor.

“If this isn’t the biggest overreaction ever, he’s just 16 — two years? Seriously?” the former Collingwood president remarked on Nine’s Eddie and Jimmy podcast.

“Did you see the reaction of his mother, or the lady sitting beside him? She looked horrified.

“There’s definitely a fine line… Sometimes I think we take things too far. The SCG has really overstepped here.

“I’d like to hear what happened to the two men who recently brought guns into a football match at the MCG.

“What’s their status? Are they out on bail? What’s the situation there?”

Geelong great Jimmy Bartel concurred with McGuire, asserting that the public shaming of the 16-year-old was in itself a sufficient punishment.

“This is absurd. He’s just 16, still a kid. When you look at the situation, the Record or whatever it was, he didn’t even throw it,” Bartel commented.

“And then you see Aliir telling him, ‘mate, calm down,’ you could see the shock on the boy’s face. The woman next to him chastised him, and you could see his guilt—he was in front of a roaring crowd.”

“That was already enough ‘punishment’, if you will.

“It’s essential to give matters the appropriate significance they warrant, rather than using them as a platform for personal agendas.”

Tom Morris, Nine’s leading AFL reporter, conveyed that the AFL was taken aback by the SCG’s decision to impose a two-year ban.

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“The Sydney Swans and the AFL were shocked; the SCG’s decision caught them entirely off guard,” Morris reported on Nine’s Footy Classified.

“They were unaware that the SCG planned to enforce a two-year ban on this underage fan.

“When this information surfaced, they were utterly astonished.

“The AFL has no intention of extending that ban; they are fine with the two-year duration.

“Ideally, they wouldn’t have imposed a two-year ban as the SCG has.”