NI star Corry Evans and his wife both say sorry after her racist rant about Romanian referee who made World Cup penalty decision
NORTHERN Ireland footballer Corry Evans issued an apology on behalf of his wife yesterday after she called the referee in Thursday night’s World Cup qualifier a “Romanian gypsy c**t” in a racist Twitter rant.
Lisa Evans unleashed the foul-mouthed tirade after Ovidiu Hategan gave a controversial penalty against her husband that saw Switzerland win the crunch tie 1-0 at Windsor Park.
Evans also received a yellow card, ruling him out of tomorrow’s away game in Basel.
The mother-of-two from Glengormley reacted furiously to the decision and posted the tweet to her account, which she then deleted for a number of hours.
“Romanian gypsy c***!!! And to actually think Northern Ireland has probably homed one of his smelly relatives!! Ungrateful t***!! Anyway onwards and upwards. #GAWA.”
According to the timeline of the tweet, it was posted at 8.23am yesterday morning, nearly 11 hours after the game finished.
The shocking rant Lisa Evans posted concerning Romanian match official
Her husband (below), who plays for League One side Blackburn Rovers, said in a statement: “On behalf of my wife, I would like to apologise unreservedly for the content and language contained in the tweet that she issued. The comments were published in the heat of the moment and are not representative of her views.”
Lisa Evans herself later posted a grovelling apology on her Twitter account. She said: “I would like to sincerely apologise to anyone I offended for the language contained in my tweet. I understand it was completely unacceptable.
I should have never have let my emotions take over. I would never condone racism in any way.”
A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: “Everyone using social media should be mindful of what they post online. Be respectful and be responsible, otherwise you may leave yourself open to criminal charges.
“When posting comments on social media or elsewhere on the internet there are a number of laws to be mindful of, including libel, contempt, harassment as well as discrimination and public order legislation. Every social media user is personally responsible for the content they post.”
She added: “There can be both criminal and civil law implications to posting comments online.”