The NRL is set to investigate an alleged incident involving Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco and a 20-year-old woman.
The woman has claimed that the New South Wales origin star star yelled “squid games” – the latest Netflix craze – references at her.
Tiffany Trinh, who is of Vietnamese descent, told the Sydney Morning Herald she is going to formally complain to the NRL about the incident, which she felt was a “joke about her race”.
However, the Roosters believe that the incident was mere miscommunication following their own investigation into the matter, with the club claiming Tedesco was discussing the show whilst near Trinh.
Roosters chief executive Joe Kelly said the club became aware of the allegation when Trinh’s sister posted about the incident on Instagram on Friday.
“After we found out about the Instagram post we thoroughly investigated the matter,” Kelly said.
“There was absolutely no interaction between James Tedesco with this group of people. We categorically deny that anything untoward occurred.”
Trinh claimed her friend challenged Tedesco about the comments, before the Roosters captain allegedly laughed and asked the women whether they knew who he was.
“It was a group of about ten footy boys, and I was pretty intimidated. It felt pretty bad being laughed at,” Trinh said.
“A 20-year-old tiny girl, waiting for a lift home and you have a bunch of guys come up to you and laugh at you for being Asian.
“It was definitely him, no doubt, and the comment was undeniably directed at me, the intent was clear.”
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