The NRL integrity unit will interview several Roosters players as part of a probe into an incident between skipper James Tedesco and a 20-year-old woman in Bondi last week.
Tiffany Trinh, 20, lodged a formal complaint with the NRL, claiming the Roosters star shouted “squid games” at her – a reference to the popular Korean Netflix series – outside a pub in Bondi.
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Trinh, who is of Vietnamese descent, told The Sydney Morning Herald she felt Tedesco was making a “joke about her race” while with his friends.
The NRL confirmed a complaint had been lodged on Monday and said they would be speaking to as many witnesses as possible, including a number of Roosters players.
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.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Trinh and her sister confirmed the club never contacted them to get their side of the story as part of their investigation.
The sisters said they were shocked by the Roosters’ claim that their probe had already wrapped up by Sunday after being made aware of the incident on Friday. They said they were taken aback by the club’s lack of communication with them.
The Roosters believe the incident occurred because of a miscommunication and claim Tedesco was simply discussing the popular show with his teammates while in close proximity to Trinh.
Trinh claims Tedesco approached her while she was outside the hotel waiting for a lift home with a friend early on Thursday morning and shouted “squid games” at her before laughing with his group.
Trinh claimed she stood behind her friend, who challenged Tedesco about the comment, before the Roosters captain allegedly laughed and asked the women if 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.”
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