Australian Rules player banned for wiping blood on face of opponent / Photo: William WEST - AFP
Australian Rules player banned for wiping blood on face of opponent
A top Australian Rules player was Monday slapped with a three-match ban for wiping blood from his nose on the face of an opponent in what was condemned as "disgraceful behaviour".
North Melbourne's Tristan Xerri was charged with serious misconduct over the incident on Saturday where he targeted Essendon captain Andy McGrath.
Xerri got a bloody nose before kicking a goal and clashing physically with McGrath. The 27-year-old then wiped some of the blood onto McGrath's face, narrowly missing his mouth.
During a tribunal hearing the case, Xerri said he was called "a weak c-word" after nailing the goal and lost his cool.
But he said he "completely owned" his mistake and admitted the charge.
"It's not right what I did. I'm sorry and sincerely apologise for that," he said.
"It was just a lapse in judgement. There's no excuses, mate. It's a poor look. I had a brain fade."
The incident received widespread condemnation, with Australian Football League chief executive Andrew Dillon saying it was "something that we don't want to see".
The tribunal heard of two other similar cases, one in 2002 and the other in 2012, but they involved wiping blood on a shirt and shorts respectively.
North Melbourne had requested no more than a two-match ban, but the tribunal gave him three.
"The intentional act of wiping blood from your nose onto the face of another player is disgraceful behaviour," it said.
"Xerri's hand was quite close to McGrath's open mouth in circumstances where numerous players were pushing and shoving, where the blood could quite easily have made contact with McGrath's mouth.
"The appearance or the look of the act is quite shocking."
Australian Rules, a dynamic kicking and passing game similar to Gaelic football, is the country's most popular spectator sport.
F.Fabre--JdCdC
