{"id":502199,"date":"2026-05-13T22:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T22:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=502199"},"modified":"2026-05-14T00:24:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:24:05","slug":"swans-drop-pride-game-with-saints-over-collard-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=502199","title":{"rendered":"Swans drop Pride Game with Saints over Collard incident"},"content":{"rendered":"

T\ufeffhe Sydney Swans<\/a> will not partake in their designated Pride Game against St Kilda<\/a> this season due to the latter's handling of the Lance Collard case earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Collard was hit with a lengthy nine-game ban that was later reduced to two weeks<\/a> following an investigation into his use of homophobic slurs during a VFL game.<\/p>\n

The Saints \ufeffstood in support of their young athlete throughout investigations into the matter, with the club maintaining the stance that Collard was innocent.<\/p>\n

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It was the second time in three years that the \ufeff21-year-old had been hit with a ban for an offence relating to the use of homophobic language.<\/p>\n

The decision received mixed reaction online and has now resulted in the end of a 10-year-long partnership between the Saints and Swans, with their annual pride game no longer taking place due to St Kilda's language used to defend Collard's actions.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"AFL\u00a0condemns\u00a0Lance\u00a0Collard\u00a0decision\"<\/p>\n

The Swans will now play their Pride Game against the Western Bulldogs in round 17.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"Since 2016, the Sydney Swans have been proud to host Pride Game at the SCG, celebrating inclusivity with our LGBTIQA+ community," the Swans said in a statement.<\/p>\n

"It is one of the most significant matches on our calendar and resonates deeply with our LGBTIQA+ supporter base and the wider Pride community.<\/p>\n

"In consultation with the Rainbow Swans, members of the LGBTIQA+ community and the St Kilda football club, we felt it was appropriate to shift our 2026 Pride Match to ensure the game has the positive impact that is intended."<\/p>\n

St Kilda acknowledged the Swans' decision on Wednesday evening, with the club saying it "would have preferred" the event to continue as plan.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

St Kilda said its commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community remained unchanged.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"St Kilda has a long and proud history of inclusion," St Kilda chief executive Carl Dilena said in a statement.<\/p>\n

"Alongside Sydney, we helped establish the AFL Pride Game in 2016 because we believe football should be a place where everyone feels welcome, safe and respected. These values are important for our staff, our players, our fans and our community.<\/p>\n

"We are proud advocates of respect and inclusion and remain committed to continuing that work across our club and community.<\/p>\n

"Importantly, the change to the Pride Game this year does not alter our commitment."\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

T\ufeffhe Sydney Swans will not partake in their designated Pride Game against St Kilda this season due to the latter's handling of the Lance Collard […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":502201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=502199"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":502204,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502199\/revisions\/502204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/502201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=502199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=502199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=502199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}