Sky stars yellow-carded over sexism

[Lewis]

Sky Sports football presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys have been left red-faced after being recorded criticising a female assistant referee and saying they "probably don't know the offside rule".

The apparent blunder is likely to spark accusations of sexism against the high-profile broadcasters.

A Sky Sports spokesman said the off-air remarks were "not acceptable".

The pair commented on Sian Massey's appointment for the Premier League game between Wolves and Liverpool on Saturday, when they believed their microphones were switched off.

They concurred that female officials "don't know the offside rule" with Keys adding: "I can guarantee you there'll be a big one today. Kenny (Liverpool manager Dalglish) will go potty."

Keys then remarked on comments made by West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady in The Sun on Saturday morning about the level of sexism in football by saying: "See charming Karren Brady this morning complaining about sexism? Yeah. Do me a favour, love."

The audio was obtained by the Mail on Sunday.

Sky released a statement which read: "The comments are not acceptable. They were not made on air but we have spoken to Richard and Andy and told them our views and they have apologised and expressed their regret."

The Football Association gave their support to Massey, who crucially made a correct borderline call in the build-up to Liverpool's first goal at Molineux.

An FA statement read: "The FA has made real strides in encouraging both male and female match officials to enter the game at every level, and will continue to offer every encouragement to all officials within the football family to progress to the highest levels possible. We are proud to have some of the world's best match officials, both male and female."

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east ... z1Byld3rOy

[Lewis]

Andy Gray sacked by Sky for offensive behaviour

Sky has sacked football presenter Andy Gray after further allegations of sexist behaviour came to light.

The pundit had already been disciplined for sexist comments made about female referee Sian Massey before Saturday's match between Wolves and Liverpool.

The 55-year-old and colleague Richard Keys were stood down for Monday's match between Bolton and Chelsea.

Sky Sports said it had sacked Gray "in response to new evidence of unacceptable and offensive behaviour".

Sky's statement continued: "The new evidence, relating to an off-air incident that took place in December, 2010, came to light after Andy Gray had already been subjected to disciplinary action for his comments of 22 January, 2011."

The new footage, which was recorded last month but only came to light in the last 24 hours, appears to show Gray making a suggestive comment towards colleague Charlotte Jackson, who does not openly react, and he and Keys then burst out laughing.

Sky Sports managing director Barney Francis said: "Andy Gray's contract has been terminated for unacceptable behaviour. After issuing a warning yesterday, we have no hesitation in taking this action after becoming aware of new information today."

Massey, meanwhile, has been withdrawn from her duties as an assistant referee for Tuesday's League Two game between Crewe and Bradford.

The furore began on Saturday when Keys and Gray, believing their microphones were switched off, were recorded before the game at Molineux saying that Massey and other female assistant referees "did not know the offside rule".

Keys added: "Somebody better get down there and explain offside to her."

The pair were subsequently disciplined.

Keys has since telephoned Massey, who has accepted the broadcaster's apology.

However, new footage emerged on Monday of Gray, a former Scotland international and striker with Aston Villa, Wolves and Everton, talking off-air with Sky Sports' pitchside reporter Andy Burton about Massey.

Sky News reported that the pair discussed Massey's appearance, with Burton referring to Massey as "a bit of a looker" while Gray asks: "What do women know about the offside rule?"

Earlier on Tuesday it was announced that Burton was "spoken to and warned" about his remarks and that he will not be involved in Sky's coverage of Wednesday's Carling Cup tie between Birmingham and West Ham.

Gray and Keys have been the face of Sky Sports' football coverage since the satellite broadcaster started showing English top-flight matches in 1992.

Massey was set to officiate at the Crewe match but Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) decided to withdraw her from duty.

PGMO general manager Mike Riley said: "PGMO and Sian believe that with any football match the focus should not be on the officials but on the players and the game itself. That is only fair to those connected with the clubs and their supporters.

"Sian is an excellent professional who has unwittingly found herself in the middle of a story that has nothing to do with her competence as a match official.

"Sian only wants to be notable for her performance as an assistant referee and is keen for things to get back to normal so she can return to officiating as soon as possible.

"Sian has the full backing of PGMO and we hope she continues her development, which has shown excellent progress so far.

"It is important for PGMO to have talented people from all backgrounds getting involved in refereeing. The more people are attracted to the game the better standards will be and the more everyone can talk about the football."

Before it was announced that Gray had been sacked, Arthur Smith, general secretary of the Referees' Association, told BBC Sport's Dan Roan that Massey was hurt by the comments.

"They were utterly inappropriate and totally sexist," said Arthur, who represents 11,000 referees in the UK. "It has no part of the game. I don't consider it harmless banter at all.

"I have spoken to Sian. She's fine. She's got that game on merit, she's worked really hard, and it does hurt you. You overcome it, you move forward."

The comments from Gray and Keys have been widely criticised in football circles, with England captain Rio Ferdinand and West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady voicing their disapproval.

Tottenham director Donna Cullen believes opinions towards females in football have changed in recent years and that Massey had earned the right to officiate a Premier League match.

"In a male-dominated sport you are always going to get the odd remark, but in more than 20 years of working in football I cannot say sexist remarks like that have ever been an issue for me," she said.

"I believe I am treated as an honorary male in football, and I don't believe being female has anything to do with my work.

"Things have changed a lot. Twenty years ago some clubs did not find it acceptable to have female directors in the boardroom, but that has changed enormously."

Former England women's cricket captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint was one of the few to offer public support to Keys and Gray, describing their exchange as "banter".

"I know Richard and Andy very well indeed," she told BBC Radio 5 live. "These were tongue-in-cheek comments and we are blowing something enormously out of proportion here."

The sexism debate even cropped up in Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish's news conference on Monday.

At the start, Dalglish jokingly asked Sky's male reporter whether he minded that there was a woman present.

The Scot's daughter Kelly Cates, a former presenter on Sky Sports News, joked on her Twitter account: "Phew, am exhausted. Just read about something called 'the offside rule'. Too much for my tiny brain. Must be damaged from nail polish fumes."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9373280.stm

[i_like_1981]

Is it just me or does every dickhead involved with football over here have to treat women with absolutely no respect? You get people like Wayne Rooney who cheat on their wives, people like this who obviously enjoy keeping the old traditions of "men on top, women on the bottom" alive and not to mention all the dickhead fans who enjoy stuffing their faces with peanuts and pizza in front of the TV on Saturday whilst their poor suffering wives have to keep cleaning up, fetching all the food and opening their beers without even a single bit of regard from them - the fact that women are attracted to these sports people is a contradiction within itself, as the male dominance of professional sports allows sexism and romantic disloyalty to flourish. And these footballers are the ones who get the women? Is that a joke? Seems not. I sure hope that, if these blokes who made the comments have female partners, their women will dump them instantly and find someone who can show some respect for their kind. It gets me down, all this, because I know that the meek and quiet people who would make good lifelong partners are getting rejected by the women for these loud, brash and rude sports fans and players who generally tend to view women as sexual objects and servants, and it just won't change. "Sky stars yellow-carded"? Make that a bloody red card with food and cold coffee thrown at them as they leave the field!

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Fat Man]

It gets me down, all this, because I know that the meek and quiet people who would make good lifelong partners are getting rejected by the women for these loud, brash and rude sports fans and players who generally tend to view women as sexual objects and servants, and it just won't change. "Sky stars yellow-carded"? Make that a bloody red card with food and cold coffee thrown at them as they leave the field!

He should have been red-carded and black-balled!!!

And canned!!!

SHIT-CANNED!!!

[i_like_1981]

I'm glad he was sacked. We need to start doing this sort of thing more with these bigheaded sports people who enjoy using their so-called "masculinity" to run others down. Next time a footballer gets caught cheating on his wife or causing trouble in public, I hope he gets dismissed from his team or at least, ONE HELL OF A PAY CUT! We should use this as an example, to show these bigheads that they're not above the retribution which they damn well deserve!

Best regards.
i_like_1981

[Lewis]

Richard Keys resigns from Sky after sexist remarks

Richard Keys has resigned as a Sky presenter following his sexist comments about female referee Sian Massey.

Apologising for his remarks, 53-year-old Keys accepted they had been "unacceptable", adding: "I've reached the decision it's time to move on."

Pundit Andy Gray, 55, had already been dismissed by the broadcaster after further allegations of sexist behaviour from the former striker came to light.

"Going forward without Andy would have been almost impossible," Keys stated.

Earlier on Wednesday, Keys suggested "dark forces" had been at work in preventing him from making amends.

"I apologised on the Sunday," the presenter told talkSPORT. "I realised how deeply wrong we were. Having done that I asked 'could we make people aware of the fact we had a conversation and that both parties felt it was right to move on?' I was told 'no'.

"Then 24 hours had passed, by which time the world had gone mad.

"I don't know why I was told 'no' and stopped from telling people what I had done."

The furore began on Saturday when Keys and Gray, believing their microphones were switched off, were recorded before the match between Wolves and Liverpool at Molineux making derogatory comments about Massey's ability to do her job.

Speaking ahead of the Premier League fixture, Keys added: "Somebody better get down there and explain offside to her."

Gray said: "Women don't know the offside rule."

Sky Sports Managing Director Barney Francis said in a statement: "It is disappointing that Richard's career at Sky should end in these circumstances.

"However, Richard recognises that his comments at the weekend were unacceptable and we note that he has made a full and public apology. We thank him for his time in helping make Sky Sports the success it is today."

Gray was dismissed after new footage, which was recorded in December 2010 but only came to light on Monday night, appeared to show the pundit making a suggestive comment towards colleague Charlotte Jackson.

Gray, who reportedly had earned £1.7m a year, issued an apology on Wednesday afternoon and added that he was devastated to have lost his job.

In the original incident Keys - who subsequently telephoned Massey to apologise for the comments - and Gray discussed remarks made by West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady in the Sun newspaper about the levels of sexism in football.

"See charming Karren Brady this morning complaining about sexism? Yeah. Do me a favour love," Keys said.

But Keys added on talkSPORT that he had unsuccessfully tried to contact Brady to apologise to her.

"I tried to ring Karren twice on Sunday night," Keys explained. "There was no answer and there is no answerphone on it. I texted her in case she did not know who was trying to call and asked her to ring me back.

"I tried to ring her to say sorry but she did not take my call."

Keys continued: "Our prehistoric banter is not acceptable in a modern world. We were wrong. It was wrong. It shouldn't have happened."

The comments made by Keys and Gray were criticised by Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand, who described them as "pre-historic" on Twitter.

"I noticed he tweeted and said what we said was pre-historic - but are you saying it does not happen in the Manchester United dressing room?" Keys asked. "My information is that it does."

Meanwhile, Brady insisted Keys had "added insult to injury" by his comments about her on talkSPORT.

"Perhaps Richard thought I was too busy making the tea and washing up to take his call but a cursory glance at the weekend's newspapers or television would have made him well aware that I was heavily occupied with the West Ham and Newham Council Olympic Stadium bid.

"This is not about an apology to me, but about an apology to all women. Richard represents views that myself and those who work in the business of football find totally dinosaur."

And the chair of football's equality and inclusion campaign Kick It Out Lord Herman Ouseley suggested the scandal offered the sport an opportunity to move "forward to a more positive era where treating people with dignity and respect is at the forefront".

"It is important, however, that the debate is is kept alive on this and how we ensure humour or banter doesn't descend into offending people," Ouseley stated.

Keys and Gray have been the face of Sky Sports' football coverage since the satellite broadcaster started showing English top-flight matches in 1992.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9376139.stm

They should have realised that actions have consequences.