With a Twitter counterattack for a TV expert, Leeds United caused violent reactions – and a debate about sexism and responsibility on social networks.
Almost six million views: Karen Carney as a TV expert at West Bromwich versus Leeds United.
twitter.com/LUFC / picture alliance
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Everything had actually gone well for Leeds United that Tuesday evening. The Premier League climber had just said goodbye to 2020 with a rousing 5-0 win at West Bromwich and climbed to eleventh place. The club’s own social media department posted a disastrous tweet.
She published an 18-second video of England’s 144-time international Karen Carney, in which she, as an expert on the broadcaster Amazon Prime Video, says that, in her opinion, Leeds “rose because of COVID, to the extent that it would give them some kind of respite Has”. Leeds commented on this statement with a thoughtful emoji and a reference to ten points ahead of the season.
Carney deletes Twitter account after numerous hate comments
It came as expected: The article was distributed thousands of times and Carney was the target of numerous sexist hate comments. Since then, there has been a discussion in England about the responsibility of Premier League clubs on social networks, which was further tightened on New Year’s Day: Carney deleted her Twitter account.
On Tuesday evening, Leeds had to put up with massive criticism. The tenor: An official club account with a good 660,000 followers shot at a TV expert who simply expressed a legitimate opinion, exposing her to sexist insults without hesitation. “How could Leeds United not see what would happen if it targets a woman?” Asked the Guardian.
Leeds’ club owner takes responsibility – and defends the tweet
The following afternoon, the club condemned the insults against Carney in a statement, but did not delete the tweet – until today. Rather, club owner Andrea Radrizzani had taken responsibility for the contribution and defended it on Tuesday evening. Carney’s words were “completely unnecessary and disrespectful to the club,” he tweeted.
However, according to media reports, Leeds has now invited Carney to a TV shoot on the training ground and a meeting with Radrizzani. It is uncertain whether she will accept the invitation. The 33-year-old Chelsea FC offensive player wants to pursue her role as a TV and radio expert this coming Premier League weekend as usual.
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