A 24-year-old man charged by police over the shocking crowd incident during the Fremantle-Hawthorn AFL preliminary final at Domain Stadium has been banned for life by venue management.
Disturbing vision of the man, allegedly striking a female spectator during the Dockers' 27-point loss to the Hawks on Friday night, appeared on social media in the hours after the game and drew widespread condemnation.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said he was incredibly angry about the violent act that had no place at the football or in society in general.
"It was something that cannot be condoned in any way," McLachlan said on Saturday.
"Our supporters need to feel safe, children need to feel safe and women need to feel safe at the football.
"That behaviour cannot be tolerated in any form.
"(It) was completely unacceptable and doesn't represent our game in any way. I apologise on behalf of our game to our supporters that they were represented in that light.
"I'm disappointed for our industry that I'm talking about an issue as outrageous as what happened last night."
Fremantle chief executive Steve Rosich and Perth Stadium Management, who applied the life ban, endorsed McLachlan's strong stance on the issue.
The video shows a man wearing a Fremantle guernsey allegedly striking a female patron to the throat with his right hand.
He is quickly engulfed by surrounding spectators as other onlookers attempt to shield children from the violent outburst and usher them to safety.
Cody Yarran of Joondanna was charged with common assault, obstructing a police officer and disorderly behaviour in a public place. He appeared on Saturday in Perth Magistrate's Court where he was remanded in custody until October 5.
He is not a member of the Fremantle Football Club.
The 38-year-old victim, who said she had asked the man to tone down his language, was treated by St John Ambulance officers for minor injuries.
"Behaviour like this ... in my view, you are not entitled to go to our games ongoing," McLachlan said.
"We're going to continue to tackle the issues that mean every person - man, woman and child - can go to our games and have a fantastic three hours. What we saw last night was something that we're going to tackle in the strongest form."
The woman who claims she was hit in the throat says she's a bit "battered and bruised" but is otherwise fine.
Using the name "Sarah" for privacy reasons, she said she was enjoying the game with her family when the rowdy Fremantle supporter began swearing and challenging people to fight him.
Speaking on Southern Cross Austereo on Saturday, Sarah said she told the man "Just take a seat, watch the rest of the game. You are really scaring my kids".
She says he replied that he didn't "give a f*** about her children" before hitting her throat with the webbing between his thumb and first finger.
The incident came just a day after new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull labelled violence against women as "un-Australian" during the launch of a $100 million domestic violence package.
It wasn't the only issue on a disappointing night. A total of 11 incidents occurred that required security to evict fans from the stadium, with three of those needing police assistance.
Hawks players Isaac Smith and Luke Breust were also involved in close calls with over-excited fans.
Running to retrieve a ball that rolled towards the boundary fence, Smith recoiled as a male Freo supporter shaped to slap him with his right hand before hurling abuse at the Hawthorn star.
Breust was involved in a scary incident after he was slung into the boundary fence where a Dockers fan made contact with him using an inflatable anchor.
A stadium official later confirmed fan had been ejected from the game for his actions.
The incidents only served to further damage the reputation of Perth AFL crowds, who made headlines this year when Sydney champion Adam Goodes was booed loudly at a West Coast game in round 17, and then again by a smaller section of the crowd during the qualifying final against Fremantle.
Members of the crowd were ejected for making racist remarks during both of those games.
