Adelaide Crow Eddie Betts forgives woman who threw banana during football match.

By Loukas Founten

Adelaide Crows forward Eddie Betts says he forgives the Port Adelaide supporter who threw a banana at him during Saturday’s AFL Showdown at Adelaide Oval.

The woman has had her membership cancelled, been banned indefinitely from attending Power matches and will undergo cultural awareness training.

Police also issued her with a $543 fine for disorderly behaviour.

Betts told Adelaide radio station 5AA the incident showed racism was still an issue in the sport, but said he was ready to move on.

“She came out and she apologised, I don’t hold grudges — I forgive her for what she’s done and I think everyone else should as well,” he said.

“She’s seeking help and you know, it’s never too late to learn.

“And a life ban, I don’t think she should get a life ban.”

Betts said he hoped the woman could “come back and enjoy the footy”.

“You know everyone enjoys their footy, you’ve just got to be careful what you do or what you say at the footy,” he said.

“You can’t do that, you can’t throw stuff on the field, you can’t say that towards players.

“Just let her be in peace now I guess, go on in her life with peace because I know she’s got a lot of abusing messages on social media and all that so like I said, I’ve forgiven her and so should all of you.”

Betts admitted he was not aware that a banana had been thrown in his direction until he received a call while driving home from the match.

He also praised Port Adelaide for the way the club dealt with the matter.

“This is all about education. Like I said, it’s never too late to learn,” Betts said.

“The way I think of it is that no-one is born racist, no-one is born with it so it’s been ingrained in her somewhere down the track or she hasn’t learnt about it.

“I was just disappointed because it’s still out there and it’s still in our game.

“I guess we’ve just got to stamp it out of the game and I guess the AFL is the perfect platform for stamping out racism.”

This post originally appeared on ABC News.

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