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Marcus Stoinis fined for alleged homophobic slur in BBL

Stoinis
by Wisden Staff 2 minute read

Marcus Stoinis, the Australia all-rounder, has been fined for leveling an alleged homophobic slur at seam bowler Kane Richardson during a Big Bash League game on Saturday, January 4.

Stoinis was reprimanded by Cricket Australia after he was found guilty of breaching Article 2.1.3 of the board’s Code of Conduct, ‘for personal abuse of a player,’ and was charged with a level 2 offence. The incident occurred when Stoinis was batting for Melbourne Stars against Melbourne Renegades, at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium.

Stoinis, who had to cough up $7,500 in fine, ‘apologised unreservedly’ for the slur, which, according to 7news.com.au, was confirmed to be of homophobic tone by Cricket Australia. The incident was reported by on-field umpires Gerard Abood and Phillip Gillespie, who had a discussion with both Stoinis and Richardson, as well as Renegades skipper Aaron Finch at the end of the game.

“I got caught in the moment and took it too far,” Stoinis was quoted as saying in a press release. “I realised immediately I was in the wrong and I apologise to Kane and to the umpires. I did the wrong thing and accept responsibility for my actions. The standards are there for a reason and I accept the penalty.”

It is the second instance in the last two months that a top-level Australian player has been found guilty of directing a homophobic slur – in November, James Pattinson was forced to sit out for one Test during the Pakistan series, after admitting to having engaged in the use of offensive language during a Sheffield Shield game.

Australia Test opener Simon Katich felt that the extent of punishment wasn’t sufficient – while Pattinson was suspended for one game, Stoinis was let go with just a fine.

“I’m not sure a financial punishment is the right way of going about it, given that we’ve had a couple of incidents of this throughout the summer,” Katich stated on Sen1116, after CA fined Stoinis.

“It’s something that I think they’d be pretty keen to stamp out and I’m not sure a financial penalty in this day and age when the players are very well looked after is that significant.

“If you really want to plant your flag – especially in the BBL – and we’ve heard Kevin Roberts talk about how family-friendly that is, how they won’t take a gambling sponsor as a result. Plant your flag [and say] this doesn’t match.”

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