McGuire says he felt ill after TV gaffe

Media personality Eddie McGuire has returned to his regular radio duties after his AFL commentary blunder and again apologised for the gaffe.

Collingwood President Eddie McGuire

Eddie McGuire has apologised again, after mocking a double amputee woman's coin toss at the AFL. (AAP)

Eddie McGuire says he hopes to get a chance to apologise to Cynthia Banham in person after mocking the double amputee's coin toss in an on-air gaffe he said that left him feeling "physically ill".

The Collingwood president and television and radio broadcaster used his Triple M Melbourne show to again apologise for his comments before Friday night's Sydney-Adelaide match at the SCG.

Banham, the Swans' No.1 ticket holder and a respected former journalist, lost her legs in a 2007 plane accident and held her walking stick as she performed the pre-game coin toss.

Having seen the wayward toss, McGuire said there should be a $5000 fine for anyone who didn't toss the coin properly.

Following a flood of criticism, McGuire on Monday attempted to explain his foot-in-mouth moment, saying he was in the studio in Melbourne and couldn't see who was tossing the coin.

He said he found out about half-way through the first quarter and felt physically ill.

"I didn't know who was doing the toss ... I wasn't looking at the monitor and out of the corner of my eye I saw the coin flick out and I went off on a tangent of jocularity and that's what it was, it was mucking around," he said.

"It wasn't having a go at coin tossers, it's a bit of a thing I have been mucking around with for a little while about the coin toss.

"I had absolutely no visibility whatsoever as to what was going on in Sydney.

"I was actually in a parallel universe, I was talking about one thing and the pictures were somewhere else. It was an unfortunate sequence of events."

McGuire said he would have never made light of a person with a disability, and extended his apology to Banham's family, the Swans and the AFL.

"I have apologised unreservedly and at the appropriate time, I hope to get the opportunity to do so personally," he said.

McGuire stood himself down from his Fox Footy commentary duties over the weekend but is expected to return to his role later this week.

Swans chairman Andrew Pridham called for action against McGuire but the AFL have so far only noted McGuire's apology.

The latest gaffe comes after he once joked about drowning respected football writer Caroline Wilson while six years ago he suggested Adam Goodes promote the King Kong musical days after he was racially abused by a Collingwood fan.


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Source: AAP



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McGuire says he felt ill after TV gaffe | SBS News