The NRL has issued James Tedesco with a $10,000 fine for public drunkenness that caused offence – after concluding its investigation into claims that the Sydney Roosters captain had used a racial slur.
In a strange twist to the complaint made against Tedesco last month, the NRL hit the Sydney Roosters captain hard on Friday with his first serious off-field sanction.
It comes after a 20-year-old woman of Vietnamese descent claimed Tedesco had said “Squid Game” at her when he walked her past her in Bondi at night.
Squid Games is the hit South Korean series streaming on Netflix that surged to prominence and popularity in recent months.
In a social media post, the woman’s sister claimed the NSW State of Origin star had been racist in his remarks.
“This may seem like a joke to you, but these are the micro-aggressions that keep racism alive in Australia,” Katherine Trinh wrote on Instagram at the time, tagging Tedesco in the post.
“My dad used to tell stories of the racism he faced when he first moved here 30 years ago, my sisters and I can all recount racism we suffered throughout school.”
Tedesco had maintained his innocence and that it was a misunderstanding, telling both the Roosters and NRL’s integrity unit he was merely talking about the show when the woman and her friends walked past.
But on Friday the NRL sanctioned the 2019 Dally M Medallist, while making no reference to racism in their statement.
“The (NRL) has issued Sydney Roosters player James Tedesco with a Breach Notice alleging he behaved in a drunken and disorderly manner and also brought the game into disrepute in Bondi on 20 October, 2021,” the league said in a statement.
“Tedesco’s Breach Notice proposes a $10,000 fine and that he must undergo education and training as directed by the NRL.
“The particulars of the Breach Notice are that Tedesco allegedly engaged in drunken and disorderly behaviour directed at members of the public which caused offence.”
Tedesco has until next Friday to respond to the breach.
AAP
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