Carney’s abusers to blame, not Leeds

Karen Carney is absolutely entitled to her opinion. But so are Leeds. Freedom of speech must flow both ways. When Carney said the club’s promotion came ‘because of Covid’, Leeds were perfectly within their rights to dispute that. It was the disproportionate wider reaction and abuse then directed towards Carney on social media that was despicable. and there is a platform that allows it, and appears to get away scot-free whenever this happens. What can also be said is that the moment Leeds saw the vile ugliness dispensed in their name, they should have moved to shut it down. Condemn the abusers, support civilised debate, maybe even try to find the worst culprits if they have club membership. They were too slow to act. yet those arguing they should have known Carney (right) would be open to sexist abuse also miss the mark. It cannot be that some viewpoints cannot be challenged. That a pundit is above criticism for being female, or black, or in any other way vulnerable. Leeds have a record for robust defences — although not in the actual games — so this was no surprise. Gabriel agbonlahor has described Leeds coach Marcelo Bielsa as a ‘myth’ in the past, and the club responded by juxtaposing his tweets with a celebration photograph, after their 3-0 win over his former club, aston Villa. It could be that agbonlahor then got some nasty attention from Leeds fans. Indeed, given the nature of the beast, it would be surprising if some of it did not cross the line into abuse of a racial nature. yet we should ask how platforms allow this, rather than question the right to engage. Leeds may appear very thin-skinned but clubs, or football professionals, can’t just be aunt Sally for any pundit who wishes to take a swing. They came back at Carney with no more than facts and a wry, chin-scratching emoji. and that is their right. When Sir alex Ferguson used to rage at the media in his press conferences, he was entitled, too. We’d had our say, he had his say. and Ferguson was far more confrontational and aggressive than Leeds were to Carney on Twitter. Mark Clattenburg says he still gets abuse over matches he refereed years ago. referees get death threats, too. Sadly, these days, it goes with the territory. and it shouldn’t. That’s the issue. not more censorship of opinions, on either side of the debate. Carney, one imagines, does not want to be protected; she just wishes to do her job without a constant barrage of savagery. Sexist abuse, racist abuse, all abuse — there is a responsibility to challenge it, to remove it, to address it. Instead we have become conditioned to do nothing until some line at the extreme edge is crossed. By then it is far, far too late.

● INDIA are refusing to travel to Brisbane for the fourth Test against australia in protest at stringent new quarantine regulations. Local rules mean they would be confined to the hotel when not playing or training, and many have been within a biosecure bubble for six months. Some, however, have not. Five players are now in isolation having been filmed in a Melbourne restaurant on new Year’s day. Rather trampled on freedom’s cause there, didn’t they?