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Live sport on SN this weekendRankine flees Australia amid homophobic slur backlash
SEN • August 24th, 2025 1:47 pm
Izak Rankine has reportedly fled the country after an almost week-long AFL investigation into his use of a homophobic slur against Collingwood last weekend.
The Adelaide star has been on the front and back pages for almost a week after an initial five-week ban was appealed and took five long and arduous days to be reconciled by the AFL.
Ultimately, he had the sanction reduced by a week meaning he will only be available for the Grand Final if Adelaide loses their first final and take the long road to the big dance.
According to reports on Sunday morning, Rankine was pictured on a flight bound for Europe and later transited through Italy.
After Rankine had his final sanction confirmed on Thursday, he released a short statement admitting he needed to go through further training.
“I regret using the word and I am very sorry for doing so, and that type of language has no place in football or the community,” he said.
“It was a mistake, and I have apologised to the Collingwood player, and what happened does not reflect my values or those of the Club.
“I’m committed to educating myself and being better.”
The Rankine saga has been a PR disaster for the AFL.
The fact he had his sanction reduced given the precedent set in the last 18 months has been slammed and moreover, that it was changed with no clear explanation with the AFL hiding behind “medical submissions”.
The fallout from the decision led to emphatic commentary from SEN’s Gerard Whateley who slammed the decisions of the league while Sam Edmund renamed the AFL the Ambiguous Football league.
Adam Simpson however had a different take, saying Rankine needed care.
“I can only compare it to Gaffy,” Simpsons said on SEN’s CrunchTime Saturday. “Self-inflicted and it’s gonna hurt the team.
“He’s made a massive mistake and he’s copped his penalty. He needs to be educated. I can’t help but think if it was my son or daughter and they make a mistake like that.
“You picture your first conversation ‘ok you’ve made a mistake’ and then you start slipping into care mode.
“It takes a long time to recover from being on the front and back page all week. Walking down the street and people look at you differently. All these things he has to live with.
“We will move on, but he is left with this big penalty. It such a big penalty for a mistake you have made. I think the club will go into care mode.
“I’m not saying he is broken, but as angry as you are, there is only so much you can do before you say ok, we can now get better.
“He’s let everyone down, but I don’t think we have to keep reminding. He will get better in that space. Unfortunately, things will happen again.”
