MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An elite player has been banned for four games for a homophobic slur against an opponent in a top-flight Australian rules football game, the sixth AFL-listed player suspended for a similar act in the past 16 months.

Izak Rankine, who plays for the league-leading Adelaide Crows, admitted directing a homophobic slur to a Collingwood opponent in Adelaide’s three-point win last Saturday.

“Izak has said he knew it was not acceptable,” the Australian Football League's general counsel Stephen Meade said Thursday in a statement announcing the ban. “Adelaide has said they know it is not acceptable. In an AFL environment, this behavior is not acceptable. Homophobia has no place in football."

Rankine, 25, apologized to the Collingwood player on Sunday as the AFL’s integ

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