FOUL!
Outcry as host of football awards tells female star: Give us a twerk
She had just been named the world’s best woman footballer, so Ada hegerberg was expecting to be asked about the beautiful game. The French host of the prestigious Ballon d’Or awards had other ideas.
To gasps from the Paris audience, Martin Solveig asked the 23-year-old Norwegian forward to twerk.
Miss hegerberg, who had said in her acceptance speech that she wanted to inspire young girls to believe in themselves, looked uncomfortable at being asked to perform the provocative dance move and appeared to try to leave the stage.
Solveig, 42, a radio DJ, later apologised. he said asking Miss hegerberg ‘Do you know how
to twerk?’ had been a bad joke and blamed his poor english. But Monday night’s incident provoked widespread criticism on social media.
Tennis star Sir Andy Murray wrote: ‘Why do women still have to put up with that s***? And to everyone who thinks it was just a joke... It wasn’t.’
The Women in Sport charity said Solveig’s comment was ‘completely inappropriate’.
Miss hegerberg, who plays for French club Lyon said: ‘[Solveig] came to me afterwards and was really sad. I didn’t really think about it at the time. I was just happy to win the Ballon d’Or.’