Former NRL player Ian Roberts (left) and New Zealand Warriors player Marcelo Montoya (right).
Ian Roberts, the first openly gay rugby league player, has called out the NRL, New Zealand Warriors, and North Queensland Cowboys for their slow reaction time in the wake of a homophobic slur shouted during a game, on Friday night.
Roberts was disappointed that it took the club two days to respond to the slur and cited the Josh Cavallo incident in January as a positive example of what should have been done in this case.
Warriors player Marcelo Montoya has been identified as the player that used a homophobic slur against Cowboys player Kyle Feldt. During Friday’s game, Montoya, who had floored Feldt in a tackle, could be heard in the broadcast audio saying “get up Kyle, you f****t”.
Montoya, who apologised for the slur, will plead guilty to the NRL judiciary. He will reportedly receive a two-game suspension with his guilty plea reducing that to one game.
Club statement regarding an on-field comment made during Friday night’s match.
Read: https://t.co/qxXxUBEy5o pic.twitter.com/t69pNbksTF
— Vodafone Warriors (@NZWarriors) April 11, 2022
‘There Needed to be a Quicker Response’
Thank you @didiforget for endlessly standing up for our #LGBTQ communities. We stand with you in calling for the @NRL to act to urgently “draw a line in the sand” over players using homophobic slurs via @dailytelegraph https://t.co/ypFyaImc4c pic.twitter.com/9axtRzjFEu
— Councillor Linda Scott (@ClrLindaScott) April 11, 2022
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Roberts s
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