Australian football star beats up Indian cabbie

Melbourne: In yet another attack on an Indian in Australia, a taxi driver was allegedly assaulted by a footballer in Melbourne.

Essendon football player Michael Hurley was arrested for kicking and punching an Indian cabbie outside a fast-food outlet on Hoddle Street.

Hurley, 19, took the taxi outside a South Melbourne nightclub and then stopped for food. When the driver pursued him asking for fare, Hurley allegedly kicked him in the groin and punched him. Police arrested him at the scene, but he was released later after questioning.

Hurley is expected to be charged for assault-related offences. The unidentified Indian cab driver received minor injuries in the incident.

But the incident has not gone well with the club for which Hurley plays.

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"We are extremely disappointed that Michael was out so late and that he put himself in a situation where an incident occurred. He started drinking at the grand final Footy Show after-party and by night's end he had clearly had too much to drink," said Essendon managing director Peter Jackson.

He added, "We are treating the matter very seriously and will take appropriate action once the details are clear. The club will continue speaking with Michael and he will assist police anyway he can."

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Victorian Premier John Brumby later said, "I understand that Hurley is a good kid. He is deeply remorseful. It is not typical of his behaviour but he had too much to drink."

Meanwhile, the new Australian High Commissioner to India, Peter Verghese, has said Australia cannot be painted in one broad stroke as a racist country.

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Speaking on NDTV's Walk the Talk, Verghese said even he could count the number of times he faced such situations in 40 years in single digits.

He was born in Kenya in 1956 to Kerala-born parents and migrated to Australia as a child.