Laryea Kingston, the player of Accra Hearts Oak who dropped his shorts to celebrate a goal against his former club, Accra Great Olympics at the Accra Sports Stadium in a testimonial match played for Ishmael Addo last week is begging for forgiveness. In an exclusive interview with the GNA Sports, Laryea said he has regretted every bit of his action and wants Ghanaians to forgive him for his folly.

He said he was overwhelmed with joy after the goal because he had predicted to score against Olympics to pay them back for sending him into slavery in Libya and the fulfilment of his hearts desire made him lose his sense of decency and pushed him into that kind of celebration.

Laryea said until he was shown the red card, he thought it was a way of teasing his former club but he has since realised that his action could have cost Hearts the match and that would have created enemies for him among the Hearts supporters.

Consequently, he said he wants to apologise to all Hearts players, fans and sympathisers to forgive him while he promised to be of exceptional conduct during the in-coming season. "I also want everybody including all members of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) management board, the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) and indeed all Ghanaians to forgive me because what I did was bad."

He advised other players in the various leagues in the country not to emulate him because "it is not only against the rules of the game but also against the norms of civilised society."

Laryea was inactive last season when he returned from Libya after pulling out of a loan deal between Accra Great Olympics and a Libyan first division club, Al Ittihad, due to what he termed maltreatment and the refusal of the Libyan club to fulfil their contractual obligations to him.

He joined Hearts during the off-season and scored in his debut against his former club with a rising toed chip, which he celebrated by rushing to the corner flag where he pulled down his shorts to display a white brief and posed for the cameras.

Referee Alex Kotey showed Kingston the red card and he has ever since been wildly criticised for bringing the game into disrepute with some people, including a traditional ruler, calling for sanctions against him.