New Zealand Warriors’ Marcelo Montoya has been handed a four game suspension at the NRL judiciary for sledging North Queensland’s Kyle Feldt with a homophobic slur.

TV coverage picked up the insult during Friday night’s game, but is was not until 44 hours later that he was charged by the judiciary, or that the Warriors made a statement condemning the incident.

Montoya was referred straight to the judiciary.

“I acknowledge and accept that the comment I made on Friday night is completely unacceptable. If you know the person I am you would know this is completely out of character. I am fully remorseful for my actions,” Montoya said.

“Obviously in the heat of the moment on the footy field things are said and I totally understand and accept that the word I used is unacceptable.

“It is something that is definitely out of my character. It was definitely a poor choice of words. There was no intention by me to offend anyone or offend Kyle.

“It was just the heat of the moment and it was just a word that come out.

“I used the word to get under his skin or to just upset him. It wasn’t used to refer to his sexuality at all. I am not a homophobe and gays in the community are valued.

“That is my position. I take full responsibility for that and I am ready for whatever is to come next”.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo spoke about his disappointment at the comment.

“Rugby League is a game for everyone, that’s what I love most about our game,“ he said.

“The homophobic language used in Friday night’s game between the Warriors and the Cowboys was unacceptable. It will not be tolerated. I commend the Match Review Committee for referring the matter to the Judiciary and I support a suspension being imposed.

“I’d like to acknowledge Marcelo Montoya for accepting responsibility for his actions and his genuine remorse. Marcelo made a poor mistake and he will learn from this experience.

“This is a reminder to all players that the game will not tolerate such conduct.”

Montoya’s sledge received widespread condemnation, including from the first openly gay male NRL player, Ian Roberts.

“On its website the NRL state they support #LGTBTIQA+ people and are vocal supporters of eliminating discrimination. I have waited for a statement from the NRL, the Warriors or my old club the North Queensland Cowboys – but nothing,” he tweeted on Sunday.

“This incident saddens me – for the #LGTBTIQA+ youth watching the game on Friday night. For the #LGTBTIQA+ players in the #NRL – those who are out, and those who are still on that journey. And for us as a society.

“NRL should be for everybody. On Friday night – it was not!”

At his weekly briefing on Monday afternoon, NRL head of football elite competitions Graham Annesley explained the delay in charging Montoya.

“It was quite unusual that charges from this game did not come out the following morning,” he said.

Annesley said that because the game was been played at Redcliffe’s Moreton Daily Stadium, “a non-standard venue”, there was a delay in accessing video and audio of the incident.

“At most venues, except non-standard venues … the feed of every single camera at the game goes directly back to the Bunker,” he said.

“(At Moreton Daily Stadium) the only thing that can come back to the Bunker at the time of the game is the main broadcast feed.

“All of the additional camera angles … they’re not available until they are physically shipped from the venue back to the Bunker.”

Annesley said the match review committee wanted to examine footage from the game carefully.

“Because of the nature of this specific charge, there was a need to try and observe as much information as possible to try and determine exactly what took place,” Annesley said.

“It is a serious charge. It’s a charge that we don’t see very often. We had to make sure we went through every possible step to be as fair as possible.”

Montoya’s teammate Bayley Sironen said the Fijian international was remorseful for the use of the term, adding it was against the club’s spirit.

“I know that we as a club — and (myself) as a player — we don’t stand for that sort of stuff,” said Sironen.

“We are really apologetic and we want to get that out of the game.”

Hooker Wayde Egan claimed Montoya lost his cool and it did not reflect his teammate’s views.

“Marcelo is one of the best blokes I’ve met and he’ll do anything for his mates,” Egan said.

“He definitely didn’t mean any malice in what he said in the heat of the battle. We play a very violent game.

“We are supporting him this week and we’ll let the judiciary decide what punishment he gets.

“He’s remorseful for what he said. He wouldn’t have meant it, he’s going to be down and disappointed.

“He’ll bounce back from it, he’s a really resilient guy and the boys will get around him.”

Last year Brisbane’s Kotoni Staggs was handed a $10,000 fine for the use of the same term in a pub in NSW.

He was also ordered to undergo an education program.