KYLE LAFFERTY has admitted his actions were ‘completely out of order’ after being slapped with a mammoth ban for use of a sectarian slur.
The Kilmarnock frontman has been hit with a 10-game suspension by the Scottish FA.
The punishment’s been handed down after a video emerged on social media last month of Lafferty being pranked by a Celtic fan in a nightclub.
After the fan shouts ‘up the Celtic,’ Lafferty could be seen aiming the slur “Fenian b******” in his response.
Kilmarnock immediately launched an investigation into the situation and slapped the 35-year old with a huge fine.
He was also axed from the Northern Ireland squad having been on international duty at the time of the video emerging.
After concluding their investigation, Killie said Lafferty regretted his actions and that he felt he’d let everyone down.
Now that the wider punishment has been confirmed, the striker himself has now broken his silence on the situation.
Saying sorry for the distress caused, Lafferty has also admitted his reaction was ‘out of order.’
He’s also committed to working with anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth, as well as Kilmarnock’s own ‘Football for Own’ programme.
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In a statement released via the club’s website, Lafferty said: “I want to deeply apologise to the club, supporters and my family for the distress caused over the past month. I totally acknowledge that my reaction to the incident was completely out of order.
“There is no excuse, it’s something that I immediately regretted and have been embarrassed about ever since. I absolutely accept that I should not have responded to provocation in that manner.
“I placed myself in a position that has been very difficult to deal with, so I’m now determined to work with Nil By Mouth to ensure that others, particularly the youngsters at the club, learn from my mistake and avoid putting themselves in any type of similar situation in the future.”
Lafferty had still been featuring for Killie while the SFA’s decision loomed.
He scored in the recent 2-2 draw against Hearts and also found the net from the penalty spot in the League Cup quarter-final win over Dundee United on Tuesday night.
But boss Derek McInnes will now have to do without Lafferty until 2023.
As it stands, his first game where he’ll be back available again will be the League Cup semi-final clash with Celtic.
That takes place at Hampden Park over the weekend of 14/15 January.
With the winter weather about to come into play, however, any postponements between now and then could throw his availability for the crunch clash at the national stadium into fresh doubt.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
