The AFL admits an Israeli flag should not have been allowed into the North Melbourne game over the weekend.
The Star of David was in full display at Marvel Stadium in support of Kangaroo debutant Harry Sheezel as well as a made sign saying "Mazel-Tov Harry".
SEN's Sam Edmund has reported the appearance of the flag upset some supporters on Saturday, "who stressed the league needed to be vigilant when it came to protecting itself from political issues and religious movements."
AFL security lead Alistair Meldrum responded to a supporters email, saying the flag should have been "seized".
“Once identified, it should then have been requested to be seized/confiscated or the patron in possession requested to leave if they refused to surrender the flag,” Meldrum wrote in an email.
“This has been communicated to MSL Venue Management.”
According to 3AW, the creator of the poster was a young Jewish footy fan, who sought out permission from the police days before the game.
The father of the young Jewish footy fan, Gary, spoke to Neil Mitchell on Wednesday.
"Josh, is very friendly, and was talking to police, I think days earlier and he checked with them.
"He said, his making up a sign, going to take the flag, would that be ok?"
"The police said it's not an issue, unless you're doing it to incite... So I guess he had permission from the police."
Gary expressed his frustration with the league, who stipulates as a part of the ticket entry conditions, that "patrons must not 'wear or otherwise display commercial, political, religious or offensive signage or logos of any kind'".
"Not surprising from the AFL," he said.
"Can they get any more woke and politically correct. It's frustrating.
"With all the anti-Semitism going on... when is it going to end?
"We've got a lot of South Sudanese players playing. Are we going to ban the South Sudanese flag? We going to ban the Canadian flag? Ban the French flag? What about banning the Australian flag?
"The AFL is a joke."
However, none of this has taken away from Sheezel's extraordinary debut.
The pick three in the 2022 draft gathered 34 disposals in his maiden match and didn't look out of place, potentially making a case for the best debut in history.
The AFL released a statement in response to the flag saga, saying it "has no issue with the flag and signs supporting North Melbourne's Harry Sheezel on the weekend."
"An AFL match day is a place for everyone, we want fans to celebrate their clubs and players, and if that includes displaying national flags that amplify any of their team’s player heritage then the AFL is fully supportive. We should celebrate our players and the game any chance we get," the statement said.
"The AFL conditions of entry policy in place, that amongst other things, regulates signage, flags and banners brought into our venues that have commercial and/or political messages. The AFL and our venues enforce this policy where appropriate.
"The AFL is proud of our diverse and wide-ranging backgrounds, faiths, and origins of all our players and encourage fans to continue to celebrate it accordingly."
However, the AFL did admit there was "confusion" surrounding entry conditions.
"Correspondence sent to a patron that had an issue with the flag being displayed was an incorrect interpretation of our conditions of match day entry policy and we apologise for any confusion."
