09/07/2021

Basketball Ireland CEO Issues Apology Over Raheem Sterling Post

Basketball Ireland CEO Bernard O'Byrne has issued an apology for a social media post about Black Lives Matter and England footballer Raheem Sterling.

The post in question, which is now deleted, was in reference to Sterling's match-winning penalty in the Euro 2020 semi-final between England and Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday 07 July.

O'Byrne posted the phrase 'BLACK DIVES MATTER!!!' under a BBC News post on his personal Facebook page.

In a statement, he said: "My choice of words commenting on a penalty incident were not thought out. It was an error of judgement and I wholeheartly apologise for the comments."

Basketball Ireland has said it would "like to stress its ongoing commitment to inclusion and basketball's diverse community, which has been led by Mr O'Byrne in recent years".

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