The wife of Northern Ireland defender Corry Evans has apologised - after she posted a racist tweet about the Romanian referee in last night’s play-off defeat to Switzerland.
Ovidiu Hategan awarded a penalty for handball in their 1-0 loss, a decision that has been widely criticised.
Lisa Evans says she let her emotions take over - and would never condone racism.
The original tweet from Evans’s account read: “Romanian gypsy c*nt!!! And to actually think Northern Ireland has probably homed one of his smelly relatives!! Ungrateful twat!! Anyway onwards and upwards. #GAWA”.
The tweet was deleted and her account was briefly taken down.
However Ms Evans later took to Twitter to issue an apology of her own.
In a statement issued through the Irish Football Association, Corry Evans said: “On behalf of my wife, I would like to apologise unreservedly for the content and language contained in the Tweet that she issued last night. The comments were published in the heat of the moment and are not representative of her views.”