Wil Powell: Shock twist in footy star's homophobic slur scandal as damning new evidence comes to light after he copped huge ban

Wil Powell seemingly used homophobic language on social media before abusing a footy rival last Sunday, after Instagram screenshots came to light.

Gold Coast Suns star Powell, 24, copped a five-game ban after calling a rival Brisbane player a 'f****t' during his side's defeat over the weekend, further highlighting footy's issue with homophobia.

Powell follows Jeremy Finlayson on the sidelines, with the Port Adelaide star using the same slur in a match against Essendon.

And according to the Sydney Morning Herald, Powell is accused of commenting homophobic language on a former fringe player's Instagram photos. 

The comments were posted roughly three years ago, with the relationship between Powell and the player unclear, and whether the comments were made in jest.

Some of the comments included 'probably lost cos gay', 'you can't surf gay', 'gay' and 'pink looks good on you'.

Powell appeaked for forgiveness for the remark made during Sunday's game and vowed to better educate himself. 

The Suns refused to make an official comment to the Sydney Morning Herald on the online posts, but said the language used would form the foundations of his education against homophobia. 

Meanwhile, Ian Roberts - rugby league's first player to come out as gay - believes the AFL has an issue with homophobic attitudes. 

'Education at a young age is the greatest sword and shield in dealing with stuff like this,' he said.

'With grown men, the battle is over. Grassroots stuff is what's important. The AFL and the major codes should be investing in grassroots education if they really want to sort this out. That's where it has to start – education, education, education.

'It never crosses my mind to call someone a 'f-----',' Roberts said. 'When people say that word, they don't just say it, they spit it.

'It's the pinnacle of insults. You're trying to demoralise someone. It diminishes a person that you are nothing, I'm going to rub you out under my foot.

'It's bigger than the incident. What I mean by that, I can promise you this, there'll be a kid in the suburbs in the regional areas who might not have heard a lot of stories in the recent weeks, but they've definitely heard that story. 

'If they're struggling with their sexuality and identity, and they don't understand what they're going through, that validates all the fear they feel.

'I'm there [at Qtopia] because I believe in education, education, education to move this along and the catastrophic consequences on what discrimination can look do to people and what it looks like and how it can play out.'