Leigh Griffiths: I did not mean to mock death of Kyle Lafferty’s sister

Griffiths was subjected to a barrage of online abuse when he ‘liked’ an image of Lafferty in tears following Northern Ireland’s defeat by Slovakia at Windsor Park on Thursday night.

It was widely known that Lafferty, who played for Glasgow Rangers during the 2018-2019 season, was in mourning for his sister who died aged 41.

As Scotland celebrated a famous win over Serbia to qualify for next year’s European Championships, Griffiths expressed his approval for the tweet, which said: “The only thing that could make tonight better. Is this picture.”

By Friday morning, Griffiths had closed his Twitter and published a statement on Instagram, saying he felt compelled to clarify the situation.

“Not that I should have to, but after what I’m seeing on social media I feel I need to,” Griffiths said.

“After last night’s win, I want to state that I was not slagging Kyle Lafferty for losing a family member, that is the lowest of the low and not the type of person I am.

“The picture was in a Northern Ireland strip and the fact they didn’t qualify and we did, which has been a huge achievement for the entire nation.

“Everyone gets carried away and people think I liked it because his sister died, absolutely not.

“We won, they didn’t, we’ve been mocked for years about failure, but we did it.”

Griffiths added: “I want to APOLOGISE unreservedly for any MISUNDERSTANDING there has been towards Kyle and his family.

“I don’t deserve what I’ve been sent, but I’ve had enough and something needed to be said on the matter.”

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