FOOTBALL: Northern Ireland striker Lafferty banned for 10 matches

Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty has been banned for 10 matches by the Scottish Football Association.

It's after video footage was posted on social media of the Kilmarnock player making a sectarian comment.

He was subsequently removed from the Northern Ireland squad for last month's final two World Cup qualifiers against Kosovo and Cyprus

A statement on Kilmarnock FC's website reads: "Kilmarnock Football Club have accepted a 10-match ban that has been served to Kyle Lafferty by the Scottish Football Association, on top of the club’s own disciplinary action.

Lafferty released a statement of the Kilmarnock FC website: “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.”

Kilmarnock say that they will work with Scotland’s leading anti-sectarian charity, Nil By Mouth, with Lafferty, as well as members of the club’s first team and academy squads, to provide education and deliver training that has been developed to tackle the issue of sectarianism in society.

In addition to working closely with Nil by Mouth, the striker has committed to assisting Kilmarnock’s ‘Football for All’ programmes on a weekly basis.