Richmond not expecting crowd backlash ahead of Houli and Saad coin toss

Richmond’s CEO has said the club is not expecting any booing or backlash from the crowd as Muslim players Bachar Houli and Adam Saad take part in the coin toss at the MCG tonight.

The statement, made “in the spirit of unity and inclusion” follows Senator Fraser Anning’s divisive comments in parliament earlier this week.

Brendon Gale, Richmond CEO, told Neil Mitchell it was a simple gesture, but a powerful one.

“We just felt it was important to celebrate the diversity of our sport and the two clubs involved,” he said.

“Any fear of crowd backlash?” Neil asked.

“I don’t, we don’t take this decisions lightly, we’ve got a very strong platform as an AFL club and we don’t take it lightly.

“We think people are fundamentally decent.

“This is a statement of decency.”

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Neil said he is hopeful the crowd will support the statement.

“I hope there isn’t booing, but I don’t think there will, as both players are loved and admired by their clubs.”