Antigay Aussie Footballer on Hiatus 

Jason Akermanis (pictured, left), the Australian football player who caused a stir when he wrote a newspaper column saying he wouldn’t be comfortable in the locker room with a gay teammate, has agreed to take a demotion and to step away from the media spotlight for several weeks amid a contract renegotiation.

Akermanis has agreed to take three weeks leave from his position with radio station MTR in Melbourne after teammates asked that he take a hiatus from his media work.

The footballer will also spend two weeks playing for the Victorian Football League, a sem-pro competition in Australia, as part of his punishment by coaches about the subject matter of his newspaper column.

Representatives for Akermanis’s team, the Western Bulldogs, reportedly attempted to buy out the player’s contract, but the offer was refused, with Akermanis saying he was determined to continue playing, writing, and working on the radio.

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