Football's most influential Indigenous boss says the AFL's response to Adam Goodes' booing ordeal was misunderstood by some, and should not have been judged in the prism of being first or loudest.
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Jason Mifsud, who this week assumed a new senior advisory post in Indigenous and multicultural affairs, said a fortnight ago that he feared the jeering of Goodes this season, which Sydney and the AFL Players Association labelled as blatantly racist, could lead a future generation of Indigenous players to shun the code.
In the aftermath of the dual Brownlow medallist returning to the field last weekend however, Mifsud's outlook was considerably more optimistic.
"The primary aim was to get Adam back playing, and that's been accomplished," he told Fairfax Media.
On the eve of the Sydney games record holder's second match since he sat out his club's home game against Adelaide, Mifsud defended the messages and actions that came from head office.
Both AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, and particularly AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick were criticised in quarters for their responses to a lamentable chapter in modern football. Fitzpatrick released a rare public statement on the matter that became a topic of national debate some eight days after the gravity of Goodes' distress over the incessant booing directed at him all season became public.
"I think it was misunderstood in regards to the leadership position that we took. "I'm the first to stand shoulder to shoulder by saying that from my point of view – not only my professional point of view, but my personal position – I think Gill managed the situation exceptionally well.
"From my point of view it wasn't about grand statements, it wasn't about being the first in line to stand up and call something out.
"To me it was about how do we collectively move to a point where we all understand our role and, in this particular circumstance around supporting Adam to come back and play, just remind everybody about what AFL footy has become.
"It's an unbelievably inclusive environment and supportive environment, notwithstanding we're always going to have infliction points because that race for [universal] cultural understanding, in my mind, is never going to be won.
"I played in the reserves the day Nicky Winmar stood up and challenged the industry and nobody liked it back then. And Nicky was subjected to some unbelievably difficult environments thereafter. Michael Long wasn't dissimilar. And this is the next infliction point, in terms of that level of respect and understanding.
"We shouldn't be naive to the ongoing challenge because the race for cultural understanding is an ongoing race; there's no finish line to it. But I think we've landed in a really good spot. To see where we were, to where we got to, I think we should be immensely proud of that."
