Video emerges of AFL fan's altercation with Channel 7 star

Perth Now

2 days ago

Security ejected the man after he got in the face of the media personality
An AFL fan has been kicked out of the MCG after getting into a verbal altercation with Channel 7 host Andy Maher during Saturday night's clash between Carlton and Melbourne.
Footage has emerged of the interaction, which shows the man getting out of his seat and walking over to Maher, who was sitting a few rows back.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: AFL fan kicked out of MCG after exchanging words with Andy Maher.
It's unclear what the man says to Maher, who hosts The Front Bar, but a number of other spectators can be heard yelling at security to kick the man out.
The man appears wobbly on his feet throughout the interaction, while a woman also appears to try and diffuse the situation.
Two security staff then came down the aisle and eventually remove the man, which was applauded by fans in the area. A fan has been filmed confronting The Front Bar host Andy Maher. Credit: X Security promptly removed the man. Credit: X
A clip of the incident has gone viral on social media with fans praising Maher for remaining calm throughout.
Maher said he had zero interaction with the fan before he came up to him.
'It was the last three minutes of the game and I noticed there were two blokes who were pretty pissed,' Maher told News Corp.
'Dave Hughes was sitting four rows behind me and my attention was caught by Hughesy saying, 'You can't say that to the old bloke, you've crossed the line, take it back, apologise'.
'Then this bloke looked up at me and saw me sitting there and I said, 'Mate, just shoosh'. That was it.
'Then he came over to me and said, 'Andrew Maher, I know you. You will listen to me'. He was pissed and wouldn't sit down so then he got chucked out.'
Maher was in the stands with his young daughters after earlier taking part in Carlton's Race for Respect.
He said his children were initially 'freaked out' by the situation, but Maher quickly realised that the man wasn't going to do anything stupid.
Maher shed more light on the incident on SEN later on Tuesday.
'Well, he was escorted out of the premises. It had nothing to do with me,' he said.
'I just told the fella to sit down. I said, 'Mate, you're going to get thrown out if you keep going'. He got thrown out.
'I missed the start of it, but Dave Hughes was in the middle of it all at the start and doing a very fine job of sticking up for one of our veteran members of society, who had, apparently, drawn some unsavoury language from this bloke.'
Maher said there was too much of this happening.
'There's too many blokes going and getting (drunk) at the footy these days. There's too much of it,' he said.
'There's too many blokes going to the footy – go to the footy and having a few beers, by all means – but why do so many people have to go the footy and get three sheets to the breeze? Why does that happen?
'Why can't you just go to the footy and have a couple of beers? Why do you have to come along and get yourself munted and then make a fool of yourself and ruin everyone else's experience.'