A Brisbane Lions supporter has had their membership cancelled after allegedly directing a racial slur towards Crows player Izak Rankine via social media on Sunday.
In a statement on Monday, the Lions condemned a social media comment made towards an Adelaide player during the two clubs' round 17 match, and confirmed "the individual's membership has been cancelled immediately", in a move endorsed by the Crows.
The incident has been handed to the AFL's Integrity Unit for investigation.
"The Adelaide Football Club strongly endorses the ban handed to a fan who directed a disgusting racial slur towards Crows midfielder Izak Rankine," Adelaide said in their own statement on Monday.
"The Club is providing support to Rankine after he was racially abused on social media by a Brisbane Lions member on Sunday.
"It is even more disappointing given it is NAIDOC Week and a time at which we should be celebrating Indigenous culture rather than dealing with vilification."
On Sunday, Rankine copped booing from the stands after dropping Brisbane player Brandon Starcevich with an off-the-ball hit during the first quarter of the match.
Crows chief executive Tim Silvers said the Lions quick action to cancel the membership was an indication of the unacceptable conduct.
"There is no place for racism of any kind in society and it is extremely sad and disappointing that we find ourselves dealing with yet another abhorrent attack on one of our players," Silvers said.
"As an industry we have a collective responsibility to not only call out racism, but do everything we can to eradicate it, and we support Brisbane which has acted swiftly and decisively.
"It is also important we take the time to understand the hurt this behaviour causes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people because unfortunately, despite how far we have come in this space, the message is still not getting through.
"The Club will continue to support Izak and his family and do whatever we can to stamp out racism in football and the wider community."
Rankine was one of a number Indigenous AFL stars subjected to racial vilification amid a string of incidents throughout the early portion of the 2023 season.
In May of last year, the AFL announced lifetime bans from attending matches for people found to be responsible for vilification.
At the time, nine fans had already been banned.
