Players revolt against Seven Network
AFL players have declared war on the sport's broadcaster, the Seven Network, over its controversial decision to make public details of two players' medical records.
Angry players kicked off a black-ban on Seven - Adelaide star and AFL Players' Association (AFLPA) vice-president Brett Burton refusing to answer questions from a Seven reporter at a media conference.
Collingwood said they would back any move by their players to refuse all interview requests from Seven in their televised Friday night game against the Crows.
And Kangaroos forward Drew Petrie, an AFLPA delegate, said he would support a boycott of player interviews and attendance at this year's Brownlow Medal count in retribution over what his association called a serious betrayal of trust.
"I won't be making any comments to Channel Seven or answering any of their questions," Burton said in Adelaide today, demanding Seven make a public apology for broadcasting details of the medical records before any ban is removed.
Despite Burton's action looking like the start of a wider player backlash against the network, Seven was not backing down from airing its story last week.
Seven trumpeted news of the players' black-ban on its 6pm Victorian news.
The reporter who broke the initial story, Dylan Howard, said it was wrong the focus of attention had become how the network had obtained its information.
"The only reason that we have become the story is the fact there's been a Supreme Court injunction," Howard told Southern Cross Radio.
"If that Supreme Court injunction wasn't in place, there's a fair chance that the AFL media would be probing a president, a chief executive, a coach and the players of one particular club."
The club and players involved cannot be named for legal reasons following a temporary Victorian Supreme Court injunction, which has been granted until Thursday.
The injunction also prevents publication of the allegations involved in the matter.
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou told Southern Cross that Seven's decision to run the story was "abhorrent".
"It's got to do with the moral and ethical issues which surround private medical records which everyone would agree that patient and doctor confidentiality is sacrosanct," Demetriou said.
Demetriou said players had had a "gutful" of Seven, including a report two weeks ago which named West Coast's Michael Braun as a player who used performance enhancing drugs, which the midfielder strenuously denied.
Braun has since been cleared by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.
Burton said until Seven made a public apology for publishing the medical records of those involved, players would continue to boycott Seven.
The AFLPA executive is to meet on Thursday or Friday.
"In terms of how long this goes on for, it's basically up to Channel Seven," Burton said.
"As soon as they give us a written apology, withdraw the court injunction and guarantee us they're not going to use the information that they've got, we'll keep going with it."
Petrie said he was concerned at the breach of confidentiality in the medical records finding their way to Seven.
He said he would support players refusing interview requests by Seven on Sunday, when the Kangaroos play the Western Bulldogs, and would back a boycott of the Brownlow Medal, which will also be broadcast by the network.
"Something does need to happen for the breach of trust that the players had," Petrie said.
"If it's going to make people sit up and realise how seriously we do take this ... then yes."
Police have charged a 36-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman with theft in relation to medical documents reportedly stolen from a rehabilitation centre.
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