Greyhounds NSW staffer sacked over racist form guide on dog named after Ezra Mam
A Greyhound Racing NSW employee has reportedly been sacked over racist remarks on a dog named after Ezra Mam.
Barely an hour after Spencer Leniu was handed an eight-match suspension for calling the Broncos playmaker a \, two-year-old greyhound 'Ezra Man' competed in the final of a 12-race program at Maitland.
But form comments provided to betting partners by Greyhounds NSW included another racist remark.
READ MORE: 'Emotional' Thurston says 'the game has failed'
READ MORE: Legends tear into Black Caps star over bizarre claim
READ MORE: Demons 'in trouble' as dressing room 'tension' revealed
"Go Bananas! Let's see IF (sic) we can get some positive Headlines, tonight?" the guide read.
A Greyhounds NSW staffer has been sacked after including a racist comment in a form guide about a dog called Ezra Man, which ran only hours after Spencer Leniu appeared at the tribunal for calling Ezra Mam a monkey. Supplied
Sportsbet suspended betting on the race after screenshots were circulated on social media.
The sport's governing body writes the form guide for each race and then disseminates it to betting partners. They also publish their own site, thedogs.com.au.
'Ezra Man' started the race short-priced favourite and took victory by several lengths. It was its third victory on the trot.
In a statement published on Tuesday morning, Greyhound Racing NSW apologised for the "appalling" gaffe.
"On Monday night in the form comments for the Maitland meeting produced by GRNSW and published on the thedogs website and on the platforms of our partners who use our comments, such as Sportsbet, an inappropriate and offensive comment was made in reference to the name of one of the runners," the statement read.
The Mole's round one Team of the Week: Unpleasant twist for disgruntled Dragons star
The Mole's round one Team of the Week: Unpleasant twist for disgruntled Dragons star
"GRNSW was made aware of the comment during the evening and immediately deleted the remark.
"While this removed it from thedogs.com.au, this correction did not flow through to our partners.
"GRNSW is appalled by what was published, and apologises unreservedly for the comment, and the distress it has caused.
"GRNSW also apologises unreservedly to its partners who were unwittingly and through no fault of their own, caught up in the incident.
"GRNSW will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and appropriate action has been taken."
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the 'appropriate action' was the dismissal of the staffer.
Spencer Leniu and Kotoni Staggs square off in Las Vegas after the initial comments were made. Getty
In its own statement, Sportsbet said the "highly offensive and inappropriate" comments were automatically published.
"Sportsbet immediately removed the event and associated comments when we became aware," a spokesman said.
"We do not tolerate hate speech, discrimination (or) racism in our organisation, on our platforms, or by our partners.
"We will continue to call it out and unreservedly apologise for the distress this has caused."
Leniu faced a 90-minute judiciary hearing on Monday night where he pleaded guilty to a contrary conduct charge.
He will be unavailable until round 10.
