A MOTHER is left disgusted after her son was allegedly racially vilified by the umpire of his football game on Saturday.
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Murray Magpies’ senior indigenous forward Ash Murray, 23, was kicked in the face while playing a game against CDHBU at Urana Road Oval in Lavington.
He got into a scuffle with an opposing team member and the umpire awarded CDHBU with a free kick.
Murray questioned the call and the umpire allegedly said “he should have kicked you harder in the face you black c---”.
Murray phoned his mother Kim Raudino, leaving her outraged by the attack.
“An umpire has a code of conduct they need to follow,” she said.
“Ash rang me to tell me what happened and he just broke down. He was shocked and devastated and couldn’t believe what had happened.
“It had a big effect on him – I got to the footy club after it all happened and I could just see he was heart broken.”
Ms Raudino said they had never experienced racism of this kind on the Border.
“You would expect it more from players – definitely not from an umpire,” she said.
AFL North East and Border umpire manager Mark Bywater said that he was not aware of the incident but there was an expectation that all umpires communicate respectfully with all players of the game.
“If the allegations are there we will treat it seriously and deal with it appropriately,” he said.
Ms Raudino and Murray have filed a complaint to an umpires association.
“We will be following that up further to make sure something happens,” she said.
“I’d be happy if this umpire comes forward and apologises to my son and does the right thing.”
