Round 9 of the 2016 AFL season will be marked as the Multicultural Round this year, with 20,000 tickets being made available for free, so people of diverse backgrounds can get their first ever taste of a footy match.
Kashif Bouns, who heads the Diversity and Inclusion team at AFL, stopped by at the SBS Punjabi studios recently, to talk about the upcoming Multicultural Round (July 7-9), the new AFL women's league launch, Jim Stynes scholarships and other programs that provide upto $10,000 per player.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Malclom Turnbull announced that one AFL fixture will be played in China, during the 2017 season. Kashif told us how that came about, and how similar negotiations are underway to host an AFL match in India as well.
On the question of sporadic reports of racism, Kashif stated categorically that AFL applies a "zero tolerance" policy to racism at any level of the game. He assured our listeners that if any complaint about racism was brought to his notice (either directly or via SBS Punjabi), it would be investigated thoroghly. "Clubs can be banned if they're found guilty", he assured.
