AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has apologised to retired Sydney Swans great Adam Goodes for the 2015 booing controversy that became a blight on the game and an issue that touched the wider Australian community.
McLachlan said in the league's annual report that the game had taken too long to respond when fans were booing Goodes during matches.
Goodes, a two-time Brownlow Medal winner as the best-and-fairest player in the game, had a break during the season because of the controversy, which reached a peak when he was jeered relentlessly by West Coast Eagles fans in Perth. Large parts of the 38,760 crowd at Paterson Stadium booed Goodes every time he went near the ball, a reaction that prompted Aboriginal Swans teammate Lewis Jetta to perform a war-dance goal celebration as an act of solidarity. Swans coach John Longmire said when Goodes took a break that the player was "sick and tired of what's been happening for a long time".
Goodes returned to the game before retiring at the end of last season, after being booed again during the Swans' finals matches against Fremantle Dockers and North Melbourne, but significantly he did not take part in the annual grand parade of retiring players on grand final day.
McLachlan said in apologising that Goodes "had been subject to a level of crowd booing and behaviour that none of our players should ever face".
"The debate that occurred about whether or not the booing was due to racism put further pressure on this great indigenous leader and one of our game's greatest champions," McLachlan said.
"Adam stood up to represent indigenous people and he took a stand on racism.
"For this, I believe he was subject to hostility from some in our crowds.
"As a game, we should have acted sooner and I am sorry we acted too slowly."
McLachlan added that he was proud of how the Australian community, players from all clubs and Swans fans supported Goodes during his break and when he returned to the game.
"The national conversation about racism taught me how important our role is to partner with all players to fight racism," McLachlan said.
"Adam has led with courage and humility and I look forward to the day our game can properly celebrate the retirement of this great champion."
Goodes became a lightning rod for criticism in Australia after a racially charged incident involving a 13-year-old spectator in 2013. A teenage girl labelled Goodes an "ape" during a match against Melbourne team Collingwood. He stopped play to alert security staff, who ejected her from the stadium. Goodes was both applauded and lambasted for his actions, critics claiming he had singled out and victimised a teenage girl while supporters noted his compassion and empathy for someone he said did not realise the hurtfulness of her words, and his acceptance of the prestigious Australian of the Year award the following year, for his advocacy work, proved similarly polarising.
Critics of Goodes said at the time that the player was booed not due to racism but because they claimed he 'staged' or feigned illegal contact from opponents to gain free-kicks from referees. Swans chairman Andrew Pridham said at the time simply that "the view of the club, it's 100 percent racist, that's what's driving it".
The AFL season launch in Melbourne on Thursday night, as always, featured a video presentation commemorating last year's grand final. The video this year focused on Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli and his indigenous background. Rioli won the Norm Smith Medal for best afield in the grand final as the Hawks beat West Coast for their third successive premiership.
AAP contributed to this report