The AFL acknowledges the decision of the AFL Appeals Board tonight to uphold the appeal brought by St Kilda's Lance Collard against the sanction of the AFL Disciplinary Tribunal last week, following a finding he breached AFL Rule 2.3(a) (Conduct Unbecoming) in a VFL match on March 27.

Mr Collard's sanction was reduced to a suspension of four weeks, of which two weeks are suspended until the end of the 2027 season, to be served cumulatively to the suspension that Collard received for a striking charge from the same match.

This matter is otherwise at a close.

The AFL reiterates that it has no tolerance for the use of homophobic language in our game and its expectations have been made extremely clear to all of our players, including by education that all AFL/W and VFL/W players receive.

We thank all parties involved for their cooperation in this process.