Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s mother has lifted the lid on the vile abuse her son allegedly received by a St Kilda fan during the Saints’ 51-point win over the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.
In a strongly-worded Facebook post, Alice Ugle revealed her son disclosed the alleged abuse with her, but only told Bulldogs officials on Sunday.
‘My son was racially discriminated against … by a St Kilda fan,’ she wrote on Facebook, according to .
‘Can you believe in 2023 the word ‘c***’ is still used?The word ‘c***’ thrown with reckless abandon.
‘A slur that cuts deep like a sharp abandon.’
Alice Ugle (left) has lifted the lid on the alleged racist abuse her son Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (middle) received on Saturday night by a St Kilda fan
The 20-year-old reported the incident during the Saints’ 51-point thrashing of the Bulldogs
Ugle said the insult aimed at her was ‘a reflection of hate’ and a stark reminder of the effort needed to eradicate racism from footy and from society as a whole.
But in a stinging rebuke to the supporters who allegedly abused her son, she warned incidents such as the one that unfolded on Saturday only strengthened the belief of those fighting against discrimination.
‘Its venomous tone, a reflection of hate.A reminder of how far we still have to go, it’s our fate.
‘We won’t give in, we won’t back down. We’ll stand up tall and never let our spirits drown. For we know that love will always triumph over hate.’
Ugle also revealed she had received threatening private messages on Facebook, including one reading: ‘Hang yourself you *** rat’.
Her comments came as the AFL world rallied behind Ugle-Hagan, the first overall pick of the 2020 draft.
‘It’s a disappointing thing unfortunately for our game and in our community to be revisiting,’ said Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli.
‘You feel angry and disappointed all at the same time.We will support him and his family as best as we possibly can.
The first overall selection of the 2020 draft, Ugle-Hagan is one of the most high-profile Indigenous players in the AFL
‘The main thing in this as well as calling out the disgusting behaviour is [stating] the fact that it’s just not acceptable.’
Melbourne gun Christian Petracca described the abuse as ‘fundamentally so wrong’ and warned it was a sobering reminder racism remained far too prevalent in society.
‘He is a 20-year-old kid.We are not just footballers, we are human beings,’ he told KIIS FM.
‘Indigenous players bring so much fun and enjoyment to the games. They put more bums on the seats than anyone else do.
As a society, we take one step forward with this stuff, and we say we are getting better, [then] you see things like this, and it’s another four or five steps backwards.It really is so wrong.’
St Kilda defender Callum Wilkie was particularly scathing of the incident given the Saints’ proud history with Indigenous players.
‘Indigenous players have done so much for our game and so much for our football club,’ he said.
‘We’ve had so many greats throughout our history or who are with us now, and we feel for them when it happens.It’s not good enough.
‘We’ll fully support our Indigenous [players], fully support Jamarra, and we hope it’s not going to continue to happen. Inevitably, it probably will, but it’s not good enough.’
The AFL has opened an investigation into the incident and both the Bulldogs and the Saints are working with the AFL to identify people involved and have condemned the racist comments.
‘Racism of any kind does not belong in our game, nor in our society.We cannot tolerate it,’ the Bulldogs said in a statement.
Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli (front left) said he was ‘angry and disappointed’ by the abuse received by his teammate (front right)
Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca has described the racist abuse received by Ugle-Hagan as ‘fundamentally so wrong’
‘Comments like these are extremely upsetting and cause significant hurt and harm for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.’
Meanwhile, Saints CEO Simon Lethlean said on Monday the club was still looking to identify the perpetrator.
‘As far as we know, it was a comment Jamarra heard, which was totally inappropriate from, he thought, a St Kilda supporter area, so we’re working to try and find out who that was,’ he said.
‘I’m not sure what the ban will be, but they certainly won’t be welcome at our games.’