Bottle thrower banned for life after 'disgraceful' act that left goal umpire bloodied
Updated . First published
The man who threw a bottle at a goal umpire and left him bloodied during last weekend's St Kilda v Carlton clash has been banned for life by the AFL.
A 23-year-old man was charged by police over the incident and he has now been dealt with by the AFL, who sent out a statement on Friday afternoon confirming that he would be banned for life.
The man was previously a three-game Carlton member but is no longer eligible to purchase a membership of any kind, the statement added.
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"Our clear message is this - what we witnessed on Sunday is not acceptable and it never will be." AFL General Counsel Stephen Meade said.
"A record 7.75 million fans attended matches this year, we have the best fans in the world, but if you choose to assault someone who is doing their job then you will lose the privilege of being able to attend the footy."
AFL umpire struck by bottle. Seven Network
Goal umpire Steven Piperno required medical attention after the incident but was not seriously injured.
"On behalf of the AFL thank you to the fans in the area who helped identify the bottle thrower and Victoria Police for acting so swiftly," the statement added.
"We are glad Steven was not seriously hurt and we look forward to seeing him umpire in this year's finals series."
The man who allegedly threw the bottle was bailed and will appear before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on November 1.
The bottle incident soured St Kilda's win in a match that could have eliminated the Blues from finals reckoning before they were saved by Port Adelaide, who won a tense match over Fremantle in the last game of the round to condemn the Dockers to missing the playoffs.
St Kilda's Rowan Marshall celebrates a goal during their round 24 win over the Carlton Blues at Marvel Stadium. Getty
"That is just nothing short of disgraceful," Brian Taylor said in commentary on Seven as vision was shown of Piperno being struck.
"It must have had water in it too inflict any sort of cut.
"There is no room for that anywhere in any of our games regardless.
"He looks OK and he's taken it in good spirit but there is quite a lot of blood being drawn out the back of his head there. Not something to make light of."
Sydney Swans great Jude Bolton slammed the incident on X, writing: "Bloody awful seeing a bottle thrown at the goal umpire."
"Unacceptable and disgusting behaviour."
ABC reporter Lauren Bordin reported on X that the man had left the stadium before he could be thrown out by security.
Carlton coach Michael Voss expressed his disappointment following the game.
"That is not what it's about," he said.
"We spend a lot of time around trying to inspire and bring joy at our football club and we want to create that real safe environment and I reckon we do that really well and we will continue to reinforce that.
"When you hear instances like that, it's something for the AFL to follow up pretty strongly and I know our club will.
"I have only heard about it but I am sure we will follow that up pretty strongly as we should be."
