One of the most anticipated AFL Tribunal cases in recent years will see Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters defending alleged verbal abuse of umpire Nick Foot. Live from 3:30pm AEST!
While Butters is almost certainly facing a fine rather than a suspension, the intrigue surrounds what he really said during the Power’s Gather Round loss – and whether it is actually considered abusive.
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Based on Foot’s report, the league alleges Butters asked Foot “how much are they paying you?” after a contentious free kick was awarded to St Kilda.
But the midfielder maintains he said something closer to “how did he pay that?” or “how did he pluck that out?”, according to Code Sports.
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While some have questioned whether Butters was making a jab about Foot also being employed by a betting company to provide horse racing tips, Port Adelaide has denied their stand-in captain had any idea about that.
The case will be a ‘he said, he said’ affair given the audio from Foot’s microphone did not clearly pick up what Butters actually said, which has frustrated the club.
“We’ve had instances where our players have been recorded 20 meters away, you would expect if you’re two meters away it would have been recorded … so not sure what’s happened here,” Power chairman David Koch said on Tuesday.
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The club has strongly defended Butters claiming his words were “misheard and misconstrued from what was actually said.
“Former club captain and Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines was standing next to Butters and Foot at the time of the exchange and will provide a witness statement in support of Butters.
“Port Adelaide is also disappointed that umpire Foot dismissively refused Butters’ attempt to seek clarification post-game as captain of the club.”
Separately, the AFL Tribunal will meet today to determine Lance Collard’s sanction after he was found guilty of using a homophobic slur during a VFL game.
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