WHAT AN OWN GOAL!
Football officials pledge to tackle sexism – but have scantily-clad dancers at bash
‘Juxtaposition of messages’
As the number of women footballers grows rapidly, the sport has taken steps to tackle the scourge of sexism.
But the Professional Footballers’ Association scored something of an own goal at its annual awards ceremony, which celebrates both the male and female game.
Four female dancers wearing revealing bodysuits left little to the imagination as they performed a routine at the event.
By contrast, three men from a group called The Manor wore black dinner suits when they appeared on stage with them. And on top of the accusations of sexism, officials even managed to misspell the name of the winner of the female footballer of the year award.
sky sports presenter Clare Tomlinson criticised the use of ‘scantily-clad dancing girls’ after attending the end-of-season ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel in London on sunday.
Her intervention comes after Formula 1 ‘grid girls’ were axed ahead of the 2018 season amid concerns that the decades-old practice of employing models to carry name boards and umbrellas to shield drivers from the sun on the grid was sexist.
similarly, ‘walk- on girls’ at darts championships were also banned last year after pressure from sexism campaigners.
Miss Tomlinson, who became the first woman to host the PFA awards in 2007, launched her attack on Twitter while at the awards. she wrote: ‘At the PFA Awards – some very strong messages about racism and diversity from the chairman and chief exec. And then they put on the scantily-clad dancing girls.’ The quartet of performers – wearing high-cut bodysuits – danced with grime artists The Manor as they performed their hit Ibiza.
Her stance was supported by a string of football fans online, with one writing: ‘It’s great that they’re trying to work on racism in the game. But sexism still needs work and as for homophobia – they’ve not even started on that.’
But it also drew criticism, leading Miss Tomlinson to reply: ‘It’s about the juxtaposition of messages… (sighs).’
The prize for PFA footballer of the year at the 46th annual awards went to Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, while Manchester City’s Raheem sterling scooped the gong for young footballer of the year.
Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema won the top prize in the women’s game. But her name was misspelt on the trophy. It was engraved with the name Vivienne enne rather than the correct spelling of Vivianne. The PFA says it ‘has long been supporters of the women’s game’ and that ‘as the women’s game escalates, we look forward to more female members joining our ranks’.
Previous PFA award ceremonies have also been mired in controversy. During the 2013 event, controversial comedian Reginald D Hunter used the Nword at least a dozen times during his half-hour act. The 50year- old black American also made a series of tasteless jokes in front of 2,000 guests. Yesterday the PFA did not respond to a request for comment.