'Scary' sexist comment at press conference sparks outrage: 'UNACCEPTABLE'
An international soccer manager has sparked outrage after claiming women concede more goals than men "because they are more emotional".
The manager of Northern Ireland women's team Kenny Shiels made the controversial remarks after his team lost 5-0 against England in a World Cup Qualifying fixture on Tuesday (local time).
"I'm sure you will have noticed if you go through the patterns — when a team concedes a goal, they concede a second one in a very, very short space of time," he told reporters.
"[It happens] right through the whole spectrum of the women's game, because girls and women are more emotional than men. So, they take a goal going in not very well."
Remarks 'deeply unhelpful', says gender equality advocate
His remarks have been widely condemned, with Women in Football CEO Yvonne Harrison calling the moment "deeply unhelpful".
"I was shocked that in this day and age you're hearing comments like that," she told Sky Sports.
She said such comments were only inflaming outdated stereotypes about women not only in sport but every day life.
Reuters sports correspondent Manasi Pathak labelled the comments "stupid and sexist".
"What's scary is that such a man is in charge of a women's national team," she said on Twitter.
Former England men's national team striker Ian Wright said Shiels was "talking foolishness", sharing an image of himself crying on the pitch.
The comment also triggered a wave of anger from fans online who branded it "unacceptable" with one person calling Shiels "a complete dinosaur".
Kenny Shiels talking foolishness! Talking about emotional women ! Didn’t that man see how many times I was crying on the PITCH! kmt pic.twitter.com/gTKIpd3fV3
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) April 13, 2022
Others suggested there was a sense of irony with Shiels' comments likely sparked by his emotions as a result of the heavy loss his team had suffered.
Sports journalist Adam Millington pointed out his claim came days after Cristiano Ronaldo had knocked a mobile phone out of a young fan's hand, with the Manchester United striker saying it is "never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments" in his apology.
Shiels later apologised for his comments on Wednesday, insisting he is "proud to manage a group of players who are role models for so many girls and boys across the country".
The incident came hours after Shiels interrupted captain Marissa Callaghan to answer his phone at a pre-match press conference.
"I'll ring you back!" 😂
Northern Ireland women's head coach Kenny Shiels' phone interrupted captain Marissa Callaghan during their press conference 📱 pic.twitter.com/X12X4Stsvm— Sky Sports (@SkySports) April 12, 2022
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