- AFL headquarters in Melbourne evacuated after police received a ‘threat’
- Police officers arrived at the Docklands building after midday on Thursday
- Alleged threat came just hours after a ‘Yes’ gay marriage sign was taken down
- The AFL said they had called police after someone phoned a ‘hoax threat’
Staff have been evacuated from the AFL headquarters after police received a threat, just hours after they removed a ‘Yes’ gay marriage sign from the building.
Police were called to AFL House in Melbourne’s Docklands after learning of the threat on Thursday afternoon.
Officers were seen conducting safety checks at the building.
The AFL said they had called police after receiving a ‘hoax threat’ over the phone.
The ‘YES’ sign plastered over the AFL logo at its Melbourne headquarters has been taken down less than 24 hours after the move was widely criticised by the football community
‘AFL House had hoax threat phoned to building this morning,’ the football league said in a statement.
‘All staff were removed while police checks proceed. Expected to return shortly.’
The security scare came just hours after the ‘Yes’ sign plastered over the building’s AFL logo was taken down following widespread criticism by the football community.
Fans, past players and former coaches were in uproar on Wednesday after AFL boss Gillon McLachlan made the resounding declaration of support for marriage equality.
Triple premiership coach Mick Malthouse was among the high-profile AFL identities to slam what the league described as ‘strong statement’ on the issue.
‘The AFL will only polarise people and really has no right to be involved in the political world of marriage equality,’ Malthouse said, the Herald Sun reported.
The AFL showed its support for marriage equality by changing the logo at its Docklands headquarters to YES