The AFL has been called out after stumbling into an awkward and embarrassing timing clash.

Head of AFL NSW/ACT Tiffany Robertson announced at the start of March that the region’s star players and football luminaries would be recognised in the inaugural NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame.

The event is going ahead this evening (Friday, May 3) with a gala dinner at the SCG, on the same weekend the AFL industry is taking a stand against gender-based violence in Australia.

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Ahead of the start of each Round 8 match, players, senior coaches and umpires are forming a circle in the centre of the ground to make a silent tribute to women who have lost their lives to gender-based violence.

“When it comes to violence against women, the only acceptable figure is zero,” AFL chief Andrew Dillon said when the initiative was announced this week.

It certainly made for a powerful sight during last night’s Showdown between Adelaide and Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, and there is no doubt it will be equally as powerful tonight at the MCG for the Carlton-Collingwood blockbuster.

As the AFL attaches itself to another cause, fans could not help but notice one particularly jarring issue.

In the NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame intake, 100 members and 10 legends will be inducted.

And among the names are former North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey.

Carey’s track record with women makes for bleak reading, dating back to his playing days when he cheated on his wife, Sally, and was busted having sex with the wife of former teammate Anthony Stevens.

The scandal split the club and forced Carey out at the start of the 2002 season.

Carey would then split up with his wife Sally McMahon (less than two months after the birth of his first child, Ella) after it came to light he was cheating on her with model Kate Nielson.

During an appearance on SAS Australia in 2022, Carey addressed another controversy when he was accused of “glassing” Nielson in 2007.

Neilson stood by Carey in court and did not press charges, but she later said the relationship was toxic and that the attack in Miami left her “bleeding profusely from the mouth”.

Carey said he “lent over to throw wine on her at a restaurant” and the glass slipped from his hands and “touched” Nielson on the lip.

But Nielson said that was a watered down version of events.

She also said she left Carey when she believed he was cheating on her after finding another woman’s clothes in the back of her car.

“That was almost as horrific as the Miami incident,” she said.

“In fact, it took me a lot longer to get over that than it did the Miami incident, and I know that sounds really sick, but I was mentally broken at that point.”

Fans were left astounded after realising the NSW Hall of Fame event clashed with the AFL’s tribute to abused women.

A fan retweeted the AFL post about the stand against gender-based violence, saying, “And yet Wayne Carey is being inducted into the NSW Hall of fame.”

And another said: “While the AFL still embraces people like Wayne Carey to be part of the game, the sport has no business on lecturing on women’s safety.”

Another asked: “Are you really inducting Wayne Carey into the hall of fame (on Friday)? So everything that you say about speaking up against violence against women is fake? You do remember that he glassed and abused his partner don’t you? Shameful.”

While another simply noted: “Pretty weird they do this and then still glorify Wayne Carey.”

When the event was announced, Dillon said in a statement that he proudly supported the NSW Hall of Fame.

“Australian football in NSW has a deeper history than many realise,” he said.

“Congratulations to the Hall of Fame inductees, each has played a significant role bettering footy in NSW.

“I look forward to learning more about these many greats and hearing their stories over the months and years to come, as footy culture continues to permeate throughout NSW.”

As well as Carey, AFL goalkicking legend Tony Lockett, the famous Daniher brothers (Terry, Neale, Anthony and Chris), and former Sydney captains such as Brett Kirk, Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack will be among those acknowledged at the NSW Hall of Fame.

The event was originally slated for 2020 to coincide with the 140th year of football in NSW but the work was interrupted due to COVID and was only completed at the end of last year.

In the HOF rules around eligibility, the charter says the committee may consider “a candidate’s individual record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship and character”.

“The number of football games played, coached or umpired or the years of service provided shall only be a consideration and shall not be determinative in assessing a candidate’s eligibility.

“Candidates shall be adjudged on the basis of their overall contribution to Australian Football in NSW, as opposed to one specific aspect.”