Sam Newman slams AFL over same-sex marriage position

As the national debate over marriage equality heats up as Aussies receive their postal votes and the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns are in full swing, another debate has gained traction. Should organisations like the AFL take a public stance when it comes to political matters?

Sam Newman, veteran host of the AFL Footy Show clearly thinks not, and he has unleashed his rage at the AFL for taking a stance on same-sex marriage and supporting a ‘yes’ vote in the postal survey. 

On Tuesday, the AFL revealed that they have changed their logo at their headquarters, and on their footballs to ‘YES’, and Newman is less than impressed, which he made clear on The Footy Show. 

“Who in the hell are these people at the AFL who are telling the football public what they should do in their lives and who they should vote for in any political agenda? Who gives you the right to put on the football and tell people what to do?” he ranted. 

“You are nothing more than obsequious, fawning, sycophantic political whores. You have no right to get involved in political messages, let people go to the football and do what they want to do and watch the game.”

His co-host Eddie McGuire emphatically disagreed, saying that it’s important for the safety and equality of any potential future gay players who may be fearful of getting involved in the game. 

“There’s an old saying if you don’t stand for something you stand for nothing,” McGuire said. 

“What we have in our world Sam is a leadership vacuum. We have politicians who don’t doing anything unless there’s a vote in it. We have media who are running agendas to get whatever they want throughout any areas they want. We’ve got churches who have completely lost credibility in what they stand for and the AFL these days is an organisation people do look to.”

What is your take? Should organisations like the AFL take a stance on political and social issues?