Calgary coach Bill Peters quits amidst racial row with Nigerian

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Bill Peters Calgary Flames head coach resigns

Bill Peters Calgary Flames head coach resigns

Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters has resigned amid allegations he used a racial slur against a former player, Akim Aliu 10 years ago.

General manager Brad Treliving made the announcement at a Friday news conference in Calgary at the Saddledome. He said assistant coach Geoff Ward will be the interim head coach.

Controversy has been brewing since Monday night when former NHL player Akim Aliu tweeted that a former coach had directed a racial slur at him in 2009-10 while with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.

Aliu did not refer to Peters by name in his tweet, but he used Calgary’s airport code “YYC” when writing about the specific coach.

He alleged “the N-bomb” had been dropped several times toward him in the dressing room in his rookie year because the coach didn’t like his choice of music.

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Peters issued an apology in a letter addressed to Treliving two days after the tweet.

Akim Aliu: complains against the Calgary coach Bill Peters

The apology did not mention Aliu, who released his own statement on Twitter on Thursday calling Peters’ letter “misleading, insincere and concerning.”

The Flames were on a road trip when the controversy broke. Peters was not with the team Wednesday night in Buffalo as the Flames continued an investigation into the allegations.

The NHL is also investigating.

Aliu said Thursday that he has accepted an invitation from the NHL to discuss the situation and will not make any further comments until after the meeting.

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