The AFL Players Association has backed Collingwood star Dayne Beams in calling out trolls as global body the World Players' Association grapples with how to help athletes deal with online abuse.
Beams called out a troll on Instagram on Wednesday after the person made a reference to the death of Dayne's father, Phillip, who passed away in March last year.
In a direct message, one that can only be seen by Beams and the person who sent it, the person commented "at least my dad is still alive".
Beams redacted his own messages in the conversation but posted a screen shot of the message with a comment.
"Why should players just have to put up with this shit," Beams wrote.
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"It's disgusting some of the abuse players cop."
The World Players Association, brings together the likes of FIFPro, the National Basketball Players Association, the NFLPA and other groups including the Australian Athletes' Alliance – of which the AFLPA is a part.
The World Players is working on minimum standards for sports to endorse on social media in the hope they can go to social media companies and ask for more to be done to combat trolls.
The correspondence.
AFLPA general manager of player development Ben Smith said players couldn't do it all themselves but could set a standard for others to follow.
"It's not going to be something that just the players can resolve but if the players can lead the way around expected behaviour and when it's not appropriate call it out," Smith told The Age.
"It's a small amount of the community who chose to use the platform for what it is not intended to be used for and we need to keep working and keep calling it out."
Smith emphasised different players wanted to handle trolls differently with some wanting no action taken, some wanting AFLPA support and others like Beams getting on the front foot.
Beams lost his father, Philip, to prostate cancer last year, when Dayne was captain of Brisbane. "Footy wasnt just a game for me, it was what drew me and my dad together,” Beams told The Age earlier this season. “To lose that part of me was devastating.”
In April Beams revealed on Channel Seven's Talking Footy he had reached out to some trolls via direct messages and had found several of them apologised for their actions and said they were emotional or drunk when they wrote them.
Smith said players and fans could have some great interactions online but abuse couldn't be tolerated.
"Passionate supporters are what make ourRead More – Source
The AFL Players Association has backed Collingwood star Dayne Beams in calling out trolls as global body the World Players' Association grapples with how to help athletes deal with online abuse.
Beams called out a troll on Instagram on Wednesday after the person made a reference to the death of Dayne's father, Phillip, who passed away in March last year.
In a direct message, one that can only be seen by Beams and the person who sent it, the person commented "at least my dad is still alive".
Beams redacted his own messages in the conversation but posted a screen shot of the message with a comment.
"Why should players just have to put up with this shit," Beams wrote.
Advertisement
"It's disgusting some of the abuse players cop."
The World Players Association, brings together the likes of FIFPro, the National Basketball Players Association, the NFLPA and other groups including the Australian Athletes' Alliance – of which the AFLPA is a part.
The World Players is working on minimum standards for sports to endorse on social media in the hope they can go to social media companies and ask for more to be done to combat trolls.
The correspondence.
AFLPA general manager of player development Ben Smith said players couldn't do it all themselves but could set a standard for others to follow.
"It's not going to be something that just the players can resolve but if the players can lead the way around expected behaviour and when it's not appropriate call it out," Smith told The Age.
"It's a small amount of the community who chose to use the platform for what it is not intended to be used for and we need to keep working and keep calling it out."
Smith emphasised different players wanted to handle trolls differently with some wanting no action taken, some wanting AFLPA support and others like Beams getting on the front foot.
Beams lost his father, Philip, to prostate cancer last year, when Dayne was captain of Brisbane. "Footy wasnt just a game for me, it was what drew me and my dad together,” Beams told The Age earlier this season. “To lose that part of me was devastating.”
In April Beams revealed on Channel Seven's Talking Footy he had reached out to some trolls via direct messages and had found several of them apologised for their actions and said they were emotional or drunk when they wrote them.
Smith said players and fans could have some great interactions online but abuse couldn't be tolerated.
"Passionate supporters are what make ourRead More – Source
