Girl calls for level playing field on supermarkets’ football stickers
TESCO and Sainsbury’s are at the centre of a sexism row after a seven-yearold girl launched a campaign to have Women’s World Cup stickers on sale in all their stores.
Immy Masterson set out to spend her pocket money on the stickers but failed to find any for sale. Her open letter to the supermarket chains has won the backing of Tracey Crouch, the former sports minister.
Immy’s campaign came as figures showed that the England Lionesses’ opening game against Scotland had a peak TV audience of 6.1 million, making it the UK’S most watched women’s football game of all time.
Caroline Masterson, Immy’s mother, said she had contacted Tesco customer services and was told that there was no room for more “girls’ lines” as they already stock popular sticker brands such as LOL Surprise, which feature glittery doll characters.
A Tesco spokesman said there is limited space for stickers and the Women’s World Cup products are only stocked in its One Stop convenience stores. Sainsbury’s said the stickers are available in most stores, but there was no sign of them in several shops which were visited by The Daily Telegraph yesterday. Stickers for the men’s Euro 2020 tournament were on sale.
Immy, from Horsham, West Sussex, wrote in her letter: “I love football and I have been very excited about watching the Women’s World Cup. I was given the World Cup sticker book by my football club and was very happy to start collecting my stickers.
“I went to your supermarket today to spend my pocket money on the Women’s World Cup stickers but there wasn’t any there.
“Your store sold the men’s stickers, so why don’t you sell the women’s? Not having the women’s World Cup stickers is sending a bad message to girls everywhere that women are less important than men.”
Ms Crouch said the supermarkets were failing to acknowledge that women’s football is a major sport.
“I’ve collected World Cup sticker albums since I was a kid and have been appalled at the lack of availability in the official retailers.
“Hardly any of my local stores sold them and one that did kept the stickers in a drawer rather than on the shelves because the boys’ football stickers took priority.
“Panini did a great thing in producing the album but it has been failed by the outlets who clearly still have a backward view of women’s interest in football,” she said.