The Sydney Swans today commended the Essendon Football Club for their professional and strong handling of the racial vilification incident which arose during Friday night’s match at Etihad Stadium.

Essendon has terminated the membership of a supporter who directed racial comments towards Adam Goodes, during Friday night’s game.

Sydney Swans CEO Andrew Ireland said that Essendon had acted strongly and appropriately in response to the incident.  

“Racial vilification simply has no place in our game, or the broader community,” he said.

“We applaud the strong stance taken by the Essendon Football Club in dealing with the matter, and also those Essendon members who reported the incident to stadium management on the night,” Ireland said.

Adam Goodes, who was not aware of incident until after the game, said he wished to thank the Essendon Football Club for their handling of the issue.

“While it is disappointing that these incidents still arise, there is a positive to come out of this, and that is the willingness of people in the crowd, regardless of the colours of their scarf and jumper, to draw a line in the sand and say that this is not acceptable," Goodes said.

“While there is still work to be done, to have Essendon members alert stadium security to the incident is a great indication that people in the football community will not tolerate racial vilification.   

“I look forward to the up-coming Indigenous Round, where we can once again celebrate the contribution of Indigenous players in our game," he said.