Footy star turned Seven commentator Abbey Holmes takes a VERY controversial stance on Jeremy Finlayson's punishment for anti-gay slur

AFLW great Abbey Holmes has said the homophobic slurs used by footy star Jeremy Finlayson and coach Alastair Clarkson can't be compared as debate rages over the vastly different punishments handed out to the pair.

Finlayson has been banned for three weeks and ordered to attend and pay for a Pride In Sport training program after using the disgraceful term 'f****t' to describe an Essendon player in last Friday night's match.

The penalty came just over a month after North Melbourne coach Clarkson was fined $20,000 and handed a suspended two-match ban for allegedly directing the slur 'c**ks**kers' at St Kilda defenders Jimmy Webster and Dougal Howard during a pre-season game.

The AFL Players Association has joined many experts and fans in slamming the league for having a double standard and not doing enough to stamp out homophobia in the game.

Holmes - who commentates on AFL matches for Channel Seven - disagreed with that stance as she was asked about the scandal on Sunrise on Thursday morning.

'I think these two incidents in isolation are very different - very different situations and circumstances,' she told host Matt Shirvington.

'I like that the AFL has come out and given this three-match suspension ... under no circumstances will they accept or tolerate any homophobic slurs or attacks.

'I think it's fair on Jeremy Finlayson and when the AFLPA have come out and said it's double standards, you need to look at these incidents on their own, in isolation.

'They are very, very different. You can't compare one or the other.'

Holmes's comments are similar to those of Port Adelaide chairman David Koch, who was slammed for saying Clarkson's case had set a benchmark for how the league punishes anti-gay slurs.

'If you look at comparisons, and benchmarks have got to be set, with a 55-year-old coach, premeditated, target the player, walk up to them, it is very different to a player in the heat of battle, when there was a lot of niggle in the game, the pressure - again, absolutely no excuse, not condoning it,' Koch said.

While Koch was pushing for Finlayson to avoid a suspension, Holmes was not - but she is at odds with the players association, footy experts and fans who believe the AFL sent a shocking message by not banning Clarkson.

High-profile sports commentators including Damien Barrett and Ashleigh Nelson have slammed the league for adopting a double standard. 

There has been speculation that the league believed the term Finlayson used is worse than the one Clarkson said when it handed down the penalty. 

'If this type of conduct is a three-week sanction for a player, it should be for everyone involved in the game and this should be clear to everyone in the industry up front rather than the open-ended approach that is currently in place,' AFLPA boss Paul Marsh said. 

Commenters on social media have lashed out at the difference in the AFL's penalties.

'Maybe the AFL could for once just say they got one wrong. Concede that the Clarkson one was soft and set a new precedent with Finlayson. He deserves to have the book thrown at him, and as fans we need to see the AFL aligning with society's expectations,' one supporter tweeted.

'Only last month Alastair Clarkson received a $20k fine & a suspended 2-game ban for the same thing despite having a large wrap sheet of misdemeanours. Rules for some and rules for others?' another wrote.

'This just makes the Clarkson suspension really poor earlier in the season. Finlayson’s penalty is spot on but it’s not good enough what Clarkson got.'

Geelong great Joel Selwood weighed in on the furore on Wednesday night, saying he worries that the scandal will make it less likely that the AFL will finally have an openly gay player.

While he said player who came out in today's game would be 'OK within the footy club', he believes the league is 'probably further away now because maybe people see it differently.

'That individual that may be gay within the AFL landscape of the men's program doesn't feel comfortable in that (since the Finlayson issue).'