The close friend of a teen umpire who has been racially vilified says a six-week ban for an abusive parent does not reflect the serious and devastating effect of her words.
Albury teen Sanjaya Koirala says a parent called him "black umpire" and animal names while he was umpiring an under-16s football match at Bunton Park in North Albury on June 16.
The AFL North East Border Umpires Association confirmed the parent received a six-week ban after she failed to produce a letter of apology to the 17-year-old umpire.
Sanjaya's friend and mentor Richard Hendy says the official responses to Sanjaya's experience of racial vilification are not good enough.
"Do we accept a six-week ban for racially vilifying a child? Is that OK? It is not even remotely OK," he told ABC Victoria's Statewide Drive.
"He does not deserve the treatment he has got — he deserves better and we should expect better.
"We really need to have a good long hard look at ourselves as a community."
'Makes me want to quit'
Sanjaya moved to Australia from Nepal with his family in 2010.
He said copping racial slurs was all too common, but this most recent incident pushed him to the brink.
"It makes me want to quit," he said.
"I am at a point where I thought I was not going back.
"It is happening over and over and I thought, 'What is the point of wasting my energy?'
"I told everyone I was quitting but in the end, I came back strong and I am still doing it.
"It is disappointing — I don't get why people can't be nice to one another."
Sanjaya said he had reported racial abuse from fans and members of AFL football clubs through comments and messages on social media in the past.
The ABC has seen a screenshot of a comment Sanjaya is tagged in that reads, "You have no idea unless it smells like curry".
Sanjaya wrote an email to the Richmond Football Club reporting the comment from the fan.
In response the club said it was not "in a position to investigate, report, nor condemn the individuals" without an official investigation through the AFL integrity unit.
Sanjaya made a report to the integrity unit and got a response from a manager who said they were "terribly sorry" he had been subjected to such "horrible behaviour".
The manager requested a talk with Sanjaya about the incidents and to offer support.
'Treated horrifically'
Mr Hendy said Sanjaya was polite, friendly and well liked by everyone who knew him.
"It is devastating to see someone who is of his character – a lovely young gentleman – be devastated by these people who have no place in sport," Mr Hendy said.
"He has every right to feel let down, to feel as though he is invisible within the system.
"You have to remember this is a young guy who is 17.
"He should be protected a lot better than he has been.
"He has, in my opinion, been treated horrifically — it has to stop.
"I am sure there are wonderful people out there who do the right thing, but people need to have natural consequences for their behaviour."
Despite the setbacks and challenges, the support of people like Mr Hendy has helped Sanjaya stay focused on his goal of becoming an AFL umpire.
"I am going to stay at it, focus on myself, push negative comments and negative people from my life and then we will see what the future holds," Sanjaya said.
