Australian club cuts sponsor for racist remarks

Published November 20, 2014

Melbourne Demons of the Australian Football League have ended their association with a major sponsor after a series of racist and sexist remarks attributed to the company's chief executive were seen on a social networking site.

The Australian Rules soccer club said Thursday the comments, first reported by Melbourne's Herald-Sun newspaper and made by EnergyWatch's CEO Ben Polis on Facebook, were "disgraceful and abhorrent."

The sponsorship deal was reported to be worth about $2 million annually. Polis later resigned as chief executive with EnergyWatch, a company he founded.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who was the subject of the derogatory remarks along with those against an Aboriginal Demons player, said the comments were "deeply offensive."

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https://www.foxnews.com/sports/australian-club-cuts-sponsor-for-racist-remarks