Sky Sports Presenters Sexism Comments

[blockhead]

the country has gone to the dogs!

[cpr]

Sky's coverasge of the dogs is pretty good.

[Zamoraaaah]

I think this was definitely part of something 'bigger' but even so 'On' or 'Off Air' it was still in the work place and if reported would be subject to some form of disciplinary even if just a warning.

Opinion is fine but there is a time and a place and they work in television/media so should have known better. Why do so many media bods think they work in football industry anyway?

Personally I can't stand Gray or Keys so I say "fark 'em both for making the lino's already difficult job even harder".

[harlowranger]

Andy Gray: I've been stitched up


Andy Gray last night called in his lawyers and told pals he is considering suing Sky after being ousted from the job he loves.

The presenter paid the price for sexist remarks aimed at assistant referee Sian Massey as well as comments he made about co-star Charlotte Jackson.

But the furious 55-year-old claimed he had been stitched up by bosses who used the furore surrounding his remarks to oust him and pave the way for the ­promotion of younger presenters.

And it was said he had been prevented from apologising to Massey, even though co-host Richard Keys had been allowed to say sorry for similar remarks he made during the same show.

Some sources also fear his axing after 18 years as the face of Sky football could be linked to his legal dispute with the News of the World over the alleged phone tapping scandal, as both Sky and the paper are owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Gray was last night talking to lawyers and is thinking about legal action after being booted off his £1.7million-a-year post.

One source said: “He feels like he has been stitched up and people working against him at Sky have set all this up to get him the boot. He loved doing that job and didn’t get much of a chance to get his point of view across.

“But it feels like a changing of the guard at Sky and this will give bosses a chance to promote Ben Shephard and Jamie Redknapp quicker.”

Gray had been given a final warning after being recorded off-air saying Massey would “not know the offside rule” when he heard she would be officiating at the Wolves versus Liverpool Premier League clash at the weekend.

But he was fired when new footage was revealed of him telling 33-year-old Jackson in December to “tuck him in” as he gestured towards his crotch with a microphone. He laughed at his sexist remark as she ignored him.

Gray’s fiancée Rachel Lewis claimed last night he had wanted to say sorry himself but had been advised not to.

Speaking at their home, she said: “He’s wanted to apologise for the last few days, desperately. He was told not to by Sky.”

Sky Sports managing director Barney Francis said: “Gray’s contract has been terminated for unacceptable ­behaviour.

“After issuing a warning, we have no hesitation in taking this action after becoming aware of new information.”

But experts say Gray could have a case for unfair dismissal as his comments were made off-air.

Employment lawyer Andrew Haywood from legal firm Dawsons LLP said: “Should he pursue a claim, the burden will be on Sky to show it dismissed him fairly.”

The star’s lawyers Schillings said: “We have been instructed by Andy Gray in relation to the termination of his contract by BSkyB. It would be inappropriate for our client to comment at this time.”

Gray and Keys were dropped from Monday night’s coverage of Bolton versus Chelsea after their remarks.

Sky Sports reporter Andy Burton, who was chatting to Gray when the comments were made, was also disciplined.

He has been taken off tonight’s Carling Cup semi-final clash between Birmingham and West Ham. It was not know when, or if, he and Keys will be back on screen.

Gray’s sacking shocked football.

His friend and Plymouth Argyle manager Peter Reid claimed the sacking was “unfair”.

BBC Radio 5 Live’s Victoria Derbyshire added: “Worked with Andy during 2002 World Cup, he was charming, respectful, hard working and a good laugh.”

But some Sky insiders claim Gray has made enemies inside the station. One said he and Keys “walked around like they owned Sky Sports”.

Former presenter Sam Matterface said: “When I first started Andy Gray had a bit of an aura of being untouchable.

“But I’m not really surprised another incident has come to light, if I am honest. I had heard stories, rumours and anecdotes about him and his behaviour. I had the feeling he wasn’t popular.”

Apprentice star Lord Sugar added: “Sky have shut the door to sexism, shame they didn’t throw away the Keys.”

Stressed Massey pulled out of last night’s match between Crewe and Bradford.

Dad Stephen said: “I’ve been fielding calls all day. People are asking if she is OK.”

Oliver Holt's view: There's no room for dinosaurs in the hi-tech world of sports TV

From icon to outcast: Andy Gray, the voice of modern football, has been silenced by 'brainless' comments - Martin Lipton opinion

Andy Gray sexism sacking! All the latest news, reaction, comment... and gags!


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[Sabas]

The fact that he tries to justify himself is pathetic and shows that not only Gray is a sexist, but a paranoid one as well.

They think as long as it's not racism, it's not that bad. SKY have all the right to fire a narrow-minded employee when they find out that he's being discriminative. And it has nothing to do with television or live television - it just makes it even worse.

[Macmoish]

David Conn/The Guardian

English football leaves it late to tackle prejudice at the top
Europe is taking the lead on addressing sexism and racism inside institutions that shape the game

For Uefa's landmark recognition, delivered at a meeting of senior figures in Amsterdam last week, that European football is "institutionally" racist and sexist, run by a self-perpetuating "old boys' club", the lumpen embarrassments of Sky TV's Richard Keys and Andy Gray could hardly have been better timed.

The seminar, chaired by William Gaillard, the advisor to the Uefa president, Michel Platini, and billed as the historic start of tackling the game's "institutional discrimination," considered sobering research on the dominance of middle aged-to-elderly white men in running football. Led by Dr Steven Bradbury of Loughborough University, the research found an alarming contrast between the melting pots on the pitch, where 33% of professional players in European football countries are from overseas, and the "under-representation" of ethnic minority or women coaches, and the "marked absence of minorities in leadership positions".

Bradbury found that more than 99% of white collar staff at professional clubs and national football associations are white, and overwhelmingly men, apart from exceptions in Scandinavia. Appointments to senior positions were depicted as "an old boys' club," in which vacancies are rarely advertised, instead being filled on the nod by associates of the old boys already in charge.

The culture is intensely discriminatory, the research found, with even great black players "stereotyped" as not being management material, and women regarded as knowing nothing about the game. There is, the report stated, "overt and casual sexism;" all knowledge in football is assumed to belong to "the male expert" and women's abilities are "devalued and invalidated". Three days after the meeting, Keys and Gray proved those points rather spectacularly, insulting the Premier League assistant referee Sian Massey, in off-air comments caught on microphone, as "F***ing hopeless," because she is a woman.

Bradbury found similarly prejudiced attitudes towards black people and ethnic minorities, despite the achievements over more than 30 years of players on the pitch. Owners of clubs still make "racialised assessments" based on "physical and cultural stereotypes of black people", his report said, fearing that black coaches "would not be accepted by the squad." It is, he found, "commonplace" at clubs and FAs to "stereotype" black and ethnic minority people as having "physicality over intellect" and not to consider them for senior executive roles.

Bryan Roy, the former Holland and Nottingham Forest winger, now a forwards coach for Ajax youth teams, told the seminar that black footballers like him often lack the communication skills and confidence to establish careers after playing, and clubs, generally, do nothing to encourage them. Roy said he went into coaching because Michael van Praag, then Ajax chairman, now the Dutch FA's president, did. "He spotted something in me I hadn't seen myself," said Roy.

He argued that clubs have a duty to provide a broad education for the young players they take in. "In coaching there is an old boys' network, which is very difficult to change," Roy said. "But football should help the next generation, to develop their skills and make the most of their abilities afterwards. When a player's time is up now, the club just gets rid of him."

Van Praag, who attended the meeting, confessed at the start that: "In 22 years of being involved in football, I have never thought about the fact that there are no women in senior positions." By the end, after four hours' evidence and discussion of institutional discrimination, Van Praag said his eyes had been opened: "I think everybody here is seeing this problem differently from where we started," he said. "I have become aware that we are doing some things in a ridiculous way. I call on the presidents of Europe's football associations to stand up, and be aware that we can easily change this landscape."

Senes Erzik, the Turkish Uefa vice-president, will present the seminar's findings to the European governing body's executive committee meeting in Nyon, Switzerland. Uefa is expected to officially recognise that the game is "institutionally" sexist and racist, and develop a strategy to change attitudes and widen the involvement of women and ethnic minorities.

That will be a significant step, given that Uefa's executive committee is the very pinnacle itself of football's "old boys' club", made up of 16 middle-or pensioner-aged white men, and that Uefa has been serially accused of failing to take firm enough action against serious incidents of racism by fans at European matches. Erzik, 68, the chair of Uefa's fair play and social responsibility committee, stated at the meeting that Uefa must: "Address a problem which has gone on for so long unnoticed. Our role is to bring people together to try to find some concrete solutions."

Two other members of the executive committee were there, Van Praag and Allan Hansen, the Danish FA president, and the presidents of the Swiss, Hungarian and Norwegian FAs were also present. The initiative was begun by Lord Triesman, the former English FA chairman, who had been urged to break open the male white dominance of the game by former black players Garth Crooks and Paul Elliott, Lord Ouseley, the ex-chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, and Piara Powar, of the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) anti-discrimination network, all of them active for years in the Kick It Out campaign against racism.

However, with no successor to Triesman, since he was forced to resign last May, appointed until David Bernstein was approved by the FA Council (99 white men, one black man, Lord Ouseley, two women) today, the FA's momentum has stalled. The meeting was still billed as a joint initiative of Uefa and the English FA, but the FA was not represented by a board member, instead by Darren Bailey, the director of governance and regulation, and Sue Law, the head of equality and child protection.

Law told the Guardian afterwards: "Widening diversity is on our agenda" through "equality objectives" and pointed to advisory groups on race and disability equality which report to the FA board, and one on tackling homophobia. "We look forward to the follow up from the seminar, to Uefa's leadership and to continuing to work with our partners," she said.

That, however, is not enough for Ouseley, who sharply criticised the FA's failure to send a board-level representative. He and Power are pushing the FA hard to introduce the two non-executive directors recommended almost six years ago by Lord Burns' review, arguing it provides an opportunity to introduce a woman and an ethnic minority representative to the board. Support is growing within the FA for Elliott, who served on the 2018 World Cup bid board, although other candidates would also have to be considered. Elliott is understood already to have discussed the issue with Bernstein.

"I mean no criticism at all of Sue Law and Darren Bailey who I am sure are very competent," Ouseley said. "However it is very disappointing that our FA did not send a board member and it suggests lip service is being paid. The comments of Gray and Keys show sexist attitudes lurking under the surface. Underlying racist prejudice, reinforced by ignorance, is still there. It is impressive that Uefa has taken the lead now, and our FA must give this issue, of widening diversity, the highest priority."

Diversity in numbers

2

Black managers at English football's 92 professional clubs – Paul Ince, at Notts County and Chris Powell at Charlton Athletic


33%

Of players in top level European professional football are immigrants to the country in which they are playing. Less than 1% of senior administrators in European football are from ethnic minorities. Less than 1% of white collar staff at Europe's professional clubs are from ethnic minorities


8.2%

Of all footballers in Europe are women – the women's game was banned in many countries, including England, for decades


12.4%

Women members of the International Olympic Committee, which in 1997 set targets for the inclusion of more women, a policy cited as one football should follow by the Loughborough University report

1

Woman – the Tranmere Rovers chairman Lorraine Rogers – among the 22 FA, Premier League and Football League board members. All the others are white English men, although Tony Kleanthous, the Barnet chairman who sits on the Football Leaugue and FA boards, is originally from Cyprus

www.guardian.co.uk/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2011/jan/25/uefa-fa-sexism-racism-football

[Lonegunmen]

Paladini isn't english. Refering you to the last paragraph.

[cpr]

He's not a board member though.

[Sabas]

Jan 25, 2011 20:19:22 GMT sandyhoops said:

Gray had to go - for Sky to save face.

But saying that - this whole affair has been blown way out of proportion - and being female, I am entitled to say that!

What has happened to common sense? To a bit of friendly banter between you men and us women, hey? Honestly, I despair of this country sometimes - everything has to be "politically correct" ... why? Anyone got a sense of humour any more or is that just an ugly rumour?!

Sandyhoops, you're entitled to say anything because you have an opinion, not because you're a woman...

It doesn't have to be "politically correct," it has to be correct - from a human standpoint. First of all, it's a business - and it's only its business to run itself they way it needs to. If an employee harms that business' image and harasses other employee, it has the right (and probably a legal obligation - to other employees) to fire such employee, and frankly, I salute this. You don't. But that doesn't matter.

What matters is that no person should be subjected to harassment (eg Jackson) or discrimination (eg Massey) and feel helpless.

To me, Gray's a pig, to you - a funny guy. Fine. There's room for both opinions.

But the important thing is that these funny guys shouldn't be allowed to form an environment, where other people would feel (I'm going soft here) vulnerable and uncomfortable.

[Macmoish]

A little tangentially, a Motorsports blogger wonders why media keeps quoting Briatore & Symonds, given "Crashgate"
joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/is-it-just-me/

[Macmoish]

EXPRESS

WRITING WRONGS OF SEXISM WITH FEARLESS FRANK AND FICKLE FRED

TRUEMAN: Doubted Sally’s writing skill
Wednesday January 26,2011

By Sally Stevens SALLY STEVENS beat the men at their own game as a sports reporter but rages at the system.

The quickest way for a woman to reduce a bloke to stunned silence has always been to start a debate on the offside rule or the sweeper system.

When I became the first woman journalist to get a full-time job on the sports desk of a red-top tabloid, in 1990, so many boorish men would say, ‘Yeah, but you don’t understand the offside rule, do you?’ that I considered getting a T-shirt with my explanation emblazoned across my (in those far-off days) bouncing bosom – which was where most of them were staring anyway.

So much has changed, and yet assistant referee Sian Massey is still having to put up with such chauvinist comments. It makes you wonder why I – and the other women who have carved out a career within male-dominated sport – bothered.

By the time I reached the sports desk of the Sunday People, I had already made it on to the back page of the Daily Mail for being thrown out of the Cardiff ground by burly security guards who refused to believe protests from me and the then Brentford manager Frank McLintock that I was a football reporter on a tight
deadline trying to cover the post-match press conference.

Frank Keating of the Guardian, who had never met me, dismissed me in print for ‘batting my eyelashes’ when I took part in a TV documentary on sports psychology. I have never been a bra-burning feminist and it was only by accident that I ended up blazing a trail for women by moving from the newsroom to fill the vacant sports editor post on the Ealing Gazette.

My first job was to introduce myself to Jim Smith, manager of QPR, and McLintock. They were to become my biggest supporters in the face of sexist prejudice.

A chance came to work on cricket legend Fred Trueman’s People column. But, to my despair, he refused to accept I was not the sports-desk secretary and I was in the bizarre position of taking down his messages to give to myself.

So I know how humiliated and frustrated Sian is feeling. As a woman you have to do more hours, complain the least, provide headache tablets and Lemsips, buy all the leaving presents, water the plants, come up with more exclusives – and someone will still say you only get anywhere bysleeping with the boss. Sian will find two choices – prove you are man enough to take them on or make maximum use of your charms as I am sure she is fielding calls from agents to put on lippy and a frock to cash in on the exposure.

Richard Keys and Andy Gray do not have that option.

www.express.co.uk/posts/view/225322/Writing-wrongs-of-sexism-with-fearless-Frank-and-fickle-Fred/Writing-wrongs-of-sexism-with-fearless-Frank-and-fickle-Fred#ixzz1C8DBpUkA

[cpr]

It's quite simple, women's football for the ladies and men's football for the blokes.

[cpr]

FOR SALE

One absolutely massive ipod style touch interactive screen
All enquires please contact

[e-mail]

[blockhead]

there is a lot going on, News international has to claen up its act re phone hacking, Sky has to claen up its act re the proposed take over by share holder R. Murdoch, funny that the sun who ignored it on monday has gone full circle now!

Rupert is in town, and you do what murdoch says or you are out.

The New Broom in at Sky sports was put in to get rid of the lads reputation.

The Soccerette days are numbered.

[Zamoraaaah]

Jan 26, 2011 18:29:02 GMT cpr said:

FOR SALE

One absolutely massive ipod style touch interactive screen
All enquires please contact

[e-mail]

I hear Andy *spit* Townsend is interested but needs to see if it will fit in his burger van.

[Markqpr]

Jan 26, 2011 18:34:27 GMT blockhead said:

The Soccerette days are numbered.

I'll look after her.

[Zamoraaaah]

Don't let the door....

Richard Keys resigns from Sky after sexist remarks


Keys said a bit of fun had gone wrong. Photo credit: talkSPORT

Sky presenter Richard Keys has resigned from his post following his sexist comments about referee Sian Massey.
Keys, 53, admitted on Wednesday that he had been wrong to make the remarks about the female football official and was considering his future.
"I have to ask myself whether I want to carry on," Keys had said on talkSPORT.
Sky pundit Andy Gray had already been dismissed by the broadcaster after further allegations of sexist behaviour by the former striker came to light.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9376139.stm

[neil]

The whole episode sickens me,sky sports wont be as good without them.
Private conversation whether wrong or right should not be leading to losing their jobs but advised they should review their thoughts.

[cpr]

They'd had their day, the antics on the plastic piece of grass on the revamped Monday Night Football got up my nose.

Time for a proper refresh.

Maybe they can also stop using football imbeciles like Paul "worldy" Merson as well.

Sick and tired of inarticulate ex players making a mint for being poor, I can listen to that down the pub. In fact, I can listen to it at home, however my sons are more football aware and articulate than most emplyed by Sky.

It's entirely different on the La Liga coverage.

With the exception of Ardiles obviously!

[harlowranger]

Manish and Steve have just posted there CV,s !Oh had better invite Lizzie along aswell ,have to be
politically correct!

[Macmoish]

Interesting piece

The GUARDIAN
Rupert Murdoch rolls up his sleeves as he confronts phone-hacking scandalNews Corp chief's arrival in London is followed by swift action over issue that has caused outcry

Dan Sabbagh Wednesday 26 January 2011

Rupert Murdoch has wasted little time since arriving for work in London on Monday.

Although News Corporation will not confirm who took the decision to dismiss Ian Edmondson, the News of the World assistant editor (news), it has all the hallmarks of an intervention by the man who has run the business since 1953 and who is responsible for every critical decision the multinational media group takes.

Normally, Murdoch's visits to London consist of a two- or three-day stop in Wapping, east London, where the Sun and the Times are based, but the media mogul showed a clear intent to roll his sleeves up when he decided on Monday evening to abandon plans to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in the second part of this week.

He even visited the morning editorial conference today at the Times – for the first time in years – accompanied by Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International. If there was any division between the two, there was little sign of it at the editorial meeting.

According to some of those present, Murdoch gave his opinion on several news stories of the day. When the story about football pundit Andy Gray's sacking by Sky Sports came up, Murdoch said that "this country has lost its sense of humour" and that anything he said was "not worse that what women say about other women".

Gray is one of several high-profile figures suing News International, alleging that he was a victim of illegal phone hacking.

In discussions about the sacking of Gray by Sky, the satellite broadcaster in which News Corporation owns a 39.1% stake, Murdoch told the meeting: "There are other reasons for sacking Andy Gray," referring to remarks Gray made to colleague Charlotte Jackson. Phone hacking was not discussed by Murdoch, but other topics such as the tense political situation in Egypt were.

Even though the message from Wapping was that it was business as usual, it was clear from Murdoch's unusually close involvement in the Times's daily priorities that he is intensely focused on the situation in London in a way not seen before.

Previously, News Corp had repeatedly tried to downplay all the allegations of hacking, with executives insisting the actions of the jailed royal correspondent Clive Goodman were the behaviour of a single "rogue reporter".

However, by the time Murdoch flew in, News Corporation had made real progress in its internal investigation of Edmondson, examining emails sent and received by the journalist, who was suspended shortly before Christmas after his name cropped up in phone hacking cases brought by the actor Sienna Miller and football agent Sky Andrew.

Whatever investigators found amounted to "material evidence" which the company thought was worth turning over to the police and was damning enough to trigger Edmondson's sacking.

It is not yet clear how far the internal inquiry will go, with the investigation initially focused only on Edmondson. A News Corp spokesman would only say that the company was "not going into any further actions we might take".

While there remains some internal dissent about News Corp's handling of the hacking crisis – and, in particular, whether it is worth making a broader apology – there is little sign that Murdoch's arrival on the scene means the company's strategy has changed significantly.

Although Edmondson's name has cropped up in the context of various civil cases being brought against the NoW, the names of other journalists at the red-top have also emerged in court evidence and parliamentary statements, including those of former news executive Greg Miskiw and chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck.

What is not clear is the extent of evidence uncovered by the internal investigation into Edmondson's emails and what will happen now that the Metropolitan police has reopened the criminal inquiry into what happened at the tabloid under Andy Coulson's editorship in 2005 and 2006.

News Corp insisted though that, with Murdoch in town, its strategy had changed. Remarking on Edmondson's dismissal, a company insider said: "We are being proactive."

www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/26/rupert-murdoch-phone-hacking-edmondson-sacked

[bowles]

am i the only poster on here who dosent have sky?? !

[harlowranger]

Jan 26, 2011 21:54:38 GMT bowles said:

am i the only poster on here who dosent have sky?? !

No i Havnt ! Bowles you are not alone !!!
Still got espn but no Sky at the min !

[Macmoish]

Nor me!

[harlowranger]

Jan 26, 2011 22:09:23 GMT Macmoish said:

Nor me!

Watch out Murdoch will be after us!

[Macmoish]

He already screwed us by making The Times and News of the World readable by subscription only!

[harlowranger]

Brady breaks silence over "dinosaur" Keys


West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady said disgraced former Sky football presenter Richard Keys had "added insult to injury" with his comments about her this afternoon and that his views were "dinosaur".

Keys, who resigned today amid the storm over off-air sexist remarks he and longtime on-screen partner Andy Gray were caught making at the weekend, claimed he'd called Brady to try to apologise in person for what he said about her but could not get through .

"Perhaps Richard thought I was too busy making the tea and washing up to take his call," said Brady, "but a cursory glance at the weekend's newspapers or television would have made him well aware that I was heavily occupied with the West Ham and Newham Council Olympic Stadium bid.

"West Ham's future in the Olympic Stadium is of far more significance to me than his future.

"It is most unfortunate that he has chosen to add insult to injury today by suggesting that this incident has done me a favour by getting West Ham out of the press, as after all I did not ask to be part of his sexist tirade.

"This is not about an apology to me, but about an apology to all women. Richard represents views that myself and those who work in the business of football find totally dinosaur."

'

[Zamoraaaah]

Jan 26, 2011 22:09:23 GMT Macmoish said:

Nor me!

Nor I.

[Macmoish]

Not quite sure what Karren Brady is saying! He tried to get through. Is he implying that she was making tea? Etc. Etc

After her recent activities, my sympathy level for her is rather low.

[harlowranger]

Jan 26, 2011 22:27:49 GMT Macmoish said:

Not quite sure what Karren Brady is saying! He tried to get through. Is he implying that she was making tea? Etc. Etc

After her recent activities, my sympathy level for her is rather low.

Well at least he tried on 2 occasions to get through to her and she decided not to answer the calls for some reason or as she puts it was to busy !