Cricket Ireland has suspended John Mooney for 3 matches following an offensive tweet which he made following the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher earlier this month.
From CricketIreland.ie:
Mooney will miss the first ODI international against Pakistan in Clontarf next month, and the Leinster Lightning Inter-Provincial games against Northern Knights on May 6, and North West Warriors on May 14-16.
The 31 year-old was found to be in breach of clause eight of his Cricket Ireland contract which prohibits players from any public statements which it considers “denigrates, is derogatory, or is prejudicial to the interests of cricket; or is of a nature which brings the game of cricket or Cricket Ireland into disrepute.”
Mooney posted the tweet shortly after new broke of the Thatcher's death on April 8th. It was soon deleted though and he apologised via Twitter on the following day.
1: I would like to apologise to anyone that I upset with my tweets yesterday regarding the death of Margaret Thatcher.
— John mooney (@Johnboy636) April 9, 2013
2: I realise now that they were offensive to many and have deleted them. I’d like to assure my family, friends, employers and
— John mooney (@Johnboy636) April 9, 2013
3: team mates that I have learned a very valuable lesson and in future will stick to focusing on my game!
— John mooney (@Johnboy636) April 9, 2013
Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE