NEVER underestimate the importance of speaking up.

A Reddit user has received a heap of praise after posting about an incident that occurred at the Collingwood and Richmond match last night at the MCG.

The user, Quibley, said they were sitting within earshot of a fellow Richmond supporter, who kept referring to midfielder Bachar Houli as a “terrorist”.

Houli happens to be the second devout Muslim to play in the AFL.

Despite the user’s protests, the man didn’t stop. They wrote: “I asked him how Muslims were supposed to integrate in the country when the best examples of integration like Houli were still called terrorists. He called me a leftie f**kwit.”

They said they offered the man a beer to calm him down, but he refused it “because they were leftie beers”. Funnily enough, they then offered to sell him a beer for profit “like a ‘rightie’”.

Unfathomably, the man actually accepted, and bought it for ten dollars.

After the attacks didn’t stop for 45 minutes, the user said he finally called security and had the man thrown out.

But arguably the most important message was what they wrote next.

“A bunch of silent people up to the point cheered and congratulated me to which I was quite blunt.

“I said something along the lines of ‘next time someone is on the receiving end of 45 minutes of abuse for stepping up to racists, you might grow some f**king balls and help out.’

“So many people tolerate sh*t which is not even close to acceptable because they are happy to do the sideways glance.

“There are racists supporting the afl and it is your duty to stop them. They support your team it’s not someone else.

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. Grow some f**king balls and help out.”

Other people on social media were quick to praise the user’s response.

One respondent, @Himasako, wrote: “Kudos for defending Houli and doing the right thing. Hopefully the MCG can start double bag-checking bogans for racist banners in the future.”

Another user, @dollabillgates, said: “Sounds like a bit of a nut bag. How/why could you insult your own players in such a way? How bizarre ... Nice work making that $10 though, what a weirdo.”

@amyisgonnakillme simply wrote “On ya, mate.”

This wasn’t the first reported instance of Islamophobia at last night’s match, with social media blowing up over a ‘Stop the Mosque’ banner displayed by anti-Islamic group United Patriots Front.

The banner read “Go Pies! Stop the Mosques” and was widely condemned by footy fans from both sides.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire slammed those responsible for the banner.

He said: “There is no place at Collingwood, or in our game, for such behaviour.”