Friday 10 November 2017 17:33, UK
Northern Ireland defender Corry Evans has apologised after his wife posted an expletive-ridden tweet abusing referee Ovidiu Hategan following the team's World Cup play-off defeat to Switzerland.
Northern Ireland lost the first-leg of the encounter 1-0 at Windsor Park on Thursday after Hategan awarded a controversial penalty to Switzerland in the 58th minute for a handball by Evans.
Switzerland defender Ricardo Rodriguez converted from the spot, leading to Evans' wife - Lisa Evans - to take to Twitter to post the xenophobic message directed at the Romanian-born official.
In a statement, the Blackburn midfielder 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."
The Twitter account, along with Evans' tweet, have since been deleted.
Northern Ireland, who failed to register a single shot on target, travel to Basel on Sunday for the second leg needing to overturn the 1-0 deficit in order to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
