Leeds defend tweet but condemn online abuse of Carney
Leeds United have said they "completely condemn" the online abuse of football pundit Karen Carney after she claimed the club were only promoted to the Premier League "because of Covid".
The former England international's comments, made during Amazon Prime Sport's coverage of Leeds' 5- 0 win at West Brom on Tuesday, were retweeted by Leeds, prompting an angry response from some fans.
A Leeds statement read: "Leeds United completely condemns any abuse received by Karen Carney on social media following last night's Premier League game with West Bromwich Albion.
"Everyone at our club respects Karen greatly for all she has achieved in the game, as well as her work in the media and the charity work she undertakes."
Leeds have often responded to criticism from pundits by mocking them on social media and owner Andrea Radrizzani defended the club's tweet criticising Carney's comments.
Radrizza ni, rep lying to a tweet which said Leeds should be "ashamed" of their actions, wrote: "I take the responsibility of the club tweet. I consider that comment (from Carney) completely unnecessar y and disrespectful to our club and par ticularly to the fantastic hard work of our players and coaches whom were understanding on the pitch for the last t wo Championship seasons by all stats."
Carney, who won 144 England caps, said that Marcelo Bielsa's side benefited from the coronavirus break in March to win the Championship title.