Players lead multicultural chargeCaroline Wilson
February 15, 2012Nine footballers have been employed by the AFL under a new, expanded multicultural program.
Daw, Nic Naitanui, Leigh Montagna and Bachar Houli will all be paid outside the salary cap to head up the program, under which the competition will continue to focus on winning the hearts and minds of Australia's multicultural community.
That core group will be joined by Harry O'Brien, David Rodan, former NRL duo Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau, along with Hunt's young Nigerian-born teammate Joel Wilkinson.
The AFL has identified that multicultural footballers make up about 10 per cent of 2012 club lists - roughly the same as the percentage of indigenous players.
Under a deal in partnership with Australia Post and encouraged by the completion of the new collective bargaining agreement Daw, Naitanui, Montagna, Houli and O'Brien will earn an estimated total $170,000 outside the salary cap in their ambassadorial work.
Richmond's Houli has been employed to help develop AFL programs across Victoria's six Muslim schools attended by about 15,000 children. The only practising Muslim in the league last season, he has been joined in 2012 by St Kilda recruit Ahmed Saad, who will almost certainly make his senior debut this year.
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