John McAreavey with his wife Michaela
Michaela McAreavey’s widower said he was “sick” after Liverpool Football Club announced an advertising link with the Mauritius Tourism Authority.
Michaela, the daughter of Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte, was murdered in a luxury hotel during her honeymoon on the Indian Ocean island in January 2011.
Two hotel employees, Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Moneea, were arrested in connection with the death of the 27-year-old woman, who was found strangled in the bathroom of her hotel suite. Both men were acquitted after a trial the following year.
On Monday, Liverpool unveiled Mauritius as the club’s new official tourist and economic partner.
John McAreavey, who posted on Twitter Tuesday night, said the resolution was “really disappointing.”
Pointing to Liverpool and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, in his post, McAreavey said that Jugnauth and Maurice ensure the protection of tourists and that they have “total disregard” for homicide victims.
He added: “I have a lot of respect for Liverpool Football Club as a club, for everything it stands for and for the way it has sought justice for its own teammates for so long. Seeing that makes me sick.”
McAreavey refers to the Hillsborough crisis in 1989 when 96 Liverpool enthusiasts were crushed to death in the club’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield Wednesday.
McAreavey told BBC Talkback that he would write a letter to Liverpool expressing his concerns.
It is understood that he will also touch the families of some of those who have sought justice for their deceased relatives in Hillsborough, asking for their support.
At the BBC talkback yesterday, McAreavey said he hoped to speak to Liverpool FC officials about whether the club knew what had happened to Michaela and how his family’s emotions had been “ignored” by the Mauritius government since the tragedy.
“Every time I saw this last night, it damages my abdomen and I don’t use that term lightly, it damages my abdomen,” he says.
“It’s because it’s Liverpool Football Club, and I’m a Manchester United fan, but I’ve held Liverpool in the highest esteem for the fact that they’ve had this long and complicated road to justice and the way the other people in Liverpool have stayed during this terrible era [regarding the Hillsborough disaster].
“For me, it’s very inspiring, so seeing them in an association agreement where they verify to inspire others to come to Mauritius, while the joy I had with the other people of Mauritius at the point of government is simply alien to me. they think they can get into those associations and that nothing will be said.”
Liverpool announced on Monday that it had introduced a global partnership with the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and the Mauritius Economic Development Board.
The three-year agreement will make the country the official partner of tourist and economic progress of the club, benefiting from a diversity of virtual assets, social networks and marketing of the LFC.
Prime Minister Jugnauth and Billy Hogan, Liverpool’s general manager and advertising director, were also photographed dressed in a club blouse with ”MAURITIUS 20′ posted on the back in front of the Kop booth in Anfield.
In the article, Prime Minister Jugnauth said: “Maurice is proud to be the official spouse of Liverpool Football Club, a world-elite football and Premier League champions.
“Or we express non-unusual values of dedication, determination, and unity. This collaboration aims to promote Mauritius as a thriving economic power and world-class tourist destination.”
Liverpool FC has been contacted for an answer.