Koby Evans Apologises For Homophobic Slur As AFL Crackdown Drags On
Brisbane Lions draftee Koby Evans, 18, has apologised for directing a homophobic slur at an opponent during last Saturday’s VFL match against Coburg, and the AFL’s integrity unit is now investigating. Evans is the league’s latest case in a pattern that has seen at least six AFL players suspended for anti-gay language since 2024.
The incident was reported by ESPN Australia on 4 May 2026, less than a fortnight after the league sacked its appeals board chairman Will Houghton over an earlier case.
Evans, taken with pick 38 in the 2025 draft and yet to make his AFL debut, apologised on-field and again after the match. In a statement, the Brisbane Lions said the club had been working with Coburg and the AFL on the matter.
“The player is extremely remorseful and takes full responsibility,” the club said. “The club is disappointed the incident has occurred, while supporting and educating the player.”
Evans himself has not spoken publicly.
What did the AFL say?
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon issued a statement on Friday, in the wake of the Lance Collard appeal that ended Houghton’s chairmanship.
“Let’s be clear: homophobia has no place in Australian football. Not at any level. Not under any circumstances,” Dillon said. “We will not accept, excuse or normalise behaviour and language that demeans, discriminates or vilifies people based on who they are.”
The Evans investigation will test that line.
Why does this keep happening?
Houghton lost his job after telling the appeals board that racist, sexist or anti-gay language is “commonplace” in the AFL. The comment was meant as context. It also, by every indication, was accurate.
Since 2024, the list of suspended players reads: Jeremy Finlayson (Port Adelaide, three matches), Wil Powell (Gold Coast, five), Jack Graham (West Coast, four), Riak Andrew (Sydney, five), Izak Rankine (Adelaide, four matches and a finals series missed), and Lance Collard (St Kilda) twice. Collard’s most recent ban was reduced from seven weeks to two weeks on appeal, less than two years after a six-game ban for the same offence. Evans is now in the queue.
What happens next for Evans?
A suspension is widely expected. The club has not confirmed a length. The AFL’s recent benchmark for first offences sits between three and five matches, and Evans’ age, status as a yet-to-debut player and immediate apology may push the outcome to the lower end.
That assumes the AFL holds the line. After the Collard reduction, that is no longer a safe assumption.
How the LGBTQIA+ community is reading this
For LGBTQIA+ fans of Australian rules football, this is exhausting. Every case follows the same script. A statement, a suspension, an apology, a promise of education. None of it has stopped the next one.
