KEY POINTS:
New Zealand rugby league player Tevita Leo-Latu insists he is not racist.
The Wakefield hooker was last week banned for six games after calling Warrington's Kevin Penny a "nigger" during a British Super League match on June 17.
But Leo-Latu, 26, claims he uses the N-word regularly with his friends and it was in no way meant as a slur against the colour of Penny's skin, the Sun newspaper reported.
"The words were just in the back of my head and they were just words I automatically use with people I hang out with, but not in a racist way," the New Zealander said.
"I use the words with people I hang out with.
"It all happened so quickly and the words just came out. I'm no racist - I'm the same colour anyway.
"It's nothing about racism, it's just what he thought. He took it differently but in no way did I mean it in a racial way, not at all."
Penny reported the incident to a touch judge and it was subsequently investigated by the Rugby Football League (RFL).
Leo-Latu has until August 22 to appeal the ban, which will rule him out of the rest of the Super League season and the first game of the play-offs if Wakefield finish in the top six.
"I've apologised and told the RFL board. But the authorities do what they have to do."
RFL executive chairman Richard Lewis has described the ban as showing the sport takes racist incidents seriously.
The former New Zealand Warrior was sacked by Cronulla last year after appearing in court on an assault charge for breaking the nose of a woman in an altercation at a service station in Sydney.
He was sentenced to eight months' periodic detention but this was reduced to 200 hours of community service after an appeal.
He was later signed by Wakefield.
Leo-Latu made one appearance for the Kiwis, coming off the bench in a test against Australia in 2004.
In a separate incident, another former Kiwis international Jamaal Lolesi alleged Wigan and Great Britain star Stuart Fielden made a racist comment in their Super League match last Friday and it was put on report.
Huddersfield's Lolesi withdrew his complaint after the game, but Rugby Football League bosses decided to refer the case to the game's compliance commissioner for further investigation.
- NZPA
