The Canberra Raiders say star player Blake Ferguson has denied responsibility for an offensive word that appeared on a social networking site under his account name.
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An Instagram account took offence after the word ''Sluts!!'' appeared beneath one of her photographs in the early hours of Friday morning and, several other account holders criticised Ferguson in the wake of the comment.
A Canberra Raiders spokesman said Ferguson had no idea the word had been posted. He was at a friend's house on Thursday evening and believed someone else may have used his phone to access his Instagram account. ''He did not make the comment,'' the spokesman said.
The Raiders centre is injured and will not play when his team takes on the New Zealand Warriors at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.
The incident comes after a troubled start to the season for Ferguson.
He was recently suspended from the Raiders playing team after he was photographed drinking alcohol with axed fullback Josh Dugan on the roof of a Nicholls home.
Dugan posted the image on his Instagram account, and was eventually sacked from the team after failing to show up to training sessions.
Ferguson apologised for the incident, was suspended and accepted the six-week alcohol ban requested by senior players, but was recalled to the Raiders after less than two weeks for the team's win over the St George-Illawarra Dragons. He was also given a one-game ban last year for arriving at training under the influence of alcohol and faced allegations he spat at festival attendees at November's Foreshore event.
Dugan's social media use continued to get him in trouble after he was sacked from the team, with the Broncos terminating negotiations with the player after he used Instagram to abuse Raiders fans.
Ferguson uses social media frequently, and has more than 6000 followers on Instagram and more than 6500 on Twitter.
