Carlton legend Brendan Fevola has declared he is "sad" at the fact that no gay AFL players have felt safe enough to come out and express their sexual identity after podcaster Scott O'Halloran revealed he previously had a years-long relationship with an AFL player.
Speaking on Fevola's Melbourne radio show, The Fox's Fifi, Fev and Nick for Breakfast, O'Halloran said he had a relationship with a now retired player for "about 3-4 years", adding that he would "never ever share their identity".
He said he decided to go public with that information after Port Adelaide player Jeremy Finlayson recently used a homophobic slur against an opponent and was suspended by the AFL.
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"No one's job is to ever 'out' a person – so that's not my goal in this. But when I saw and heard some homophobia, which happens a lot in the AFL, I just got very disappointed and very vocal about the AFL not supporting its code, its players, (and) its employees. So, I've decided to share the story about the relationship on today's podcast," O'Halloran said.
O'Halloran's experience prompted Fevloa to question why there has never been a V/AFL player come out in the game's history, with the former star goal-kicker fearing that the amount of homophobia in the game could make them feel unsafe if they were to reveal their identity.
The former Blue wonders why the AFL has always been such an unsafe space for men to express themselves, fearing that the game could never see any improvement to the way it is now, compared to the changes seen across other codes.
Fevola, who played 204-games for Carlton and Brisbane between 1999-2010, is confident that he played with a gay footballer at some stage in his career.
"Obviously, I played AFL. I would have played with someone who was gay, probably," Fevola said.Fifi, Fev & Nick on Wednesday.
"It doesn't bother me, each to their own. Obviously, there is gay footballers out there, but no footballer in our code has ever come forward to say they are gay."
Carlton's seven-time leading goalkicker believes that the AFL club environment plays a role in the fact that gay players hide in the shadows.
He wondered aloud why other sports, which are often perceived to be played in hyper masculine environments have had players going public with their sexuality, while the AFL hasn't yet broken the taboo.
"It's happened in other sports. In soccer, in NRL… why do you think that a player can't come out and say they are gay?," Fevola asked.
"It's so sad."
Back in November of 2022, Melbourne United basketball player Isaac Humphries came out to his teammates.
He became the NBL's first openly gay player.
Fevola lauded the way Humphries club supported him after the announcement.
"I remember about two years ago (Isaac) Humphries, who played for Melbourne United – a basketballer – he came out to his teammates and they filmed it and it was one of the most powerful speeches," Fevola said.
"All the players got around him."
But Fevola declared that the AFL isn't a safe enough space in this day and age, for a player to feel the same support as Humphries did when he came out.
"You'd think if a footballer saw that, they'd take that and think, "maybe that could happen to me?" … but you don't think that the footy world would accept that," Fevola said.
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