- Greyhounds NSW employee fired after ‘terrible’ form manual
- Featured shocking words about dog racing in Maitland
- The dog was named Ezra Man, named after Broncos kingpin Ezra Mam
Greyhounds NSW has apologized for a form guideline that said punters could use “bananas” because of a dog named Ezra Mam, the Indigenous NRL player who was called a “monkey” by a rival player.
Sydney Roosters sponsor Spencer Leniu was handed an eight-match ban by the NRL on Monday for making racist comments against Brisbane five-eighth Mam during the side’s first round match in Las Vegas on March 3.
The incident has cast a long shadow over the NRL’s foray into the US and the start of the 2024 campaign.
On the same night Leniu faced the NRL court, Greyhounds NSW was forced to issue an apology after a staff member referred to the incident in the online forms guide for a Maitland dog race.
“Go bananas! Let’s see if we can get some positive headlines tonight?’ read the notes for the runner Ezra Man, followed by descriptions of the dog’s recent form.
Greyhounds NSW has apologized for a form manual (pictured) which said punters could use ‘Go Bananas’ because of a dog called Ezra Mam, who was called a ‘monkey’ by Spencer Leniu
Leniu was handed an eight-match ban by the NRL on Monday for using the slur against Brisbane five-eighth Mam during the side’s first round match in Las Vegas.
On the same night that Spencer Leniu faced the NRL judge for his attack on Ezra Mam (pictured), Greyhounds NSW was forced to apologize after a staff member referred to the incident in the online form guide for a race in Maitland, NSW.
The comment was later removed from the Greyhounds NSW website, but the correction did not flow through to the websites of the organisation’s gambling partners.
“GRNSW is shocked by what has been published and apologizes unreservedly for the comment and the distress it has caused,” a statement from Greyhounds NSW said.
“GRNSW also apologizes unreservedly to its partners who were unknowingly involved in the incident through no fault of their own. “GRNSW will not tolerate this type of behavior and appropriate action has been taken.”
AAP contacted Greyhounds NSW for clarification on the ‘appropriate action’ taken – and it later emerged the employee had been dismissed.
The forms guide from Greyhounds NSW websites matches that of betting agencies, which were unable to remove the content from their own channels.
Sportsbet, the country’s largest bookmaker, stopped betting on the race after the complaint was brought to attention on social media on Monday evening.
The organization has since contacted the NRL to confirm that it was not responsible for the comment, which appeared on its website and app.
“We are extremely disappointed that highly offensive and inappropriate comments from a third party have been automatically published on our platforms,” Sportsbet said in a statement to AAP.
‘Sportsbet immediately removed the event and associated comments when we became aware of it.
‘Our partner Greyhound Racing NSW has confirmed that the necessary action has been taken, and we have sought further reassurance that appropriate checks are taking place.
“We do not tolerate hate speech, discrimination and racism in our organization, on our platforms or by our partners. We will continue to cry out and apologize unreservedly for the distress this has caused.”