Leeds United slammed by netizens, social media team labelled 'sexist' for mocking pundit

Premier League side Leeds United have been heavily criticised after the club's official Twitter account mocked football pundit and former England international, Karen Carney after she claimed the team will struggle at the end of the season. Carney, on a live broadcast, admitted that last season's COVID-19 break was a boost for Leeds United in their Premier League promotion push. Leeds shared the footage of Carney's comments on Tuesday and came under heavy abuse from social media users, with some deeming the club's social media team 'sexist'. 

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Leeds United Twitter mock pundit Karen Carney's comments 

Prior to Leeds United's 5-0 victory against West Brom on Tuesday, Karen Carney, while speaking on Amazon Prime's broadcast of the game, claimed that Marcelo Bielsa's team had benefited from the coronavirus break in March as the club earned promotion back to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years.

Carney said, "They (Leeds) outrun everyone and credit to them. My only concern would be, would they blow up at the end of the season? We saw that in the last couple of seasons and I actually think they got promoted because of COVID-19, in terms of it gave them a bit of respite. I don’t know whether they would have gone up if they didn’t have that break.”

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Leeds later posted a video of Carney's comments with the caption: "Promoted because of COVID" and "Won the league by 10 points" with emojis mocking Carney's statements. However, social media fans were left fuming with Leeds' tweet, singling out Carney's comments. 

One wrote, "Why did Leeds United clip up what Carney said? I think she was spot on with her analysis with everything she stated". Another added, "Would Leeds mock any male presenter if they said the same thing? Can't believe the sexism here." A third stated, "Karen is a well-informed pundit. This tweet is inciteful & inappropriate. Not a good look now, or at any time.” Man United legend Rio Ferdinand also called for Leeds United to delete the tweet. 

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However, Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani doubled down on the criticism and said Carney's comments were "disrespectful." Even Leeds players Ben White and Mateusz Klich showed their disapproval at Carney's statements. Radrizzani later claimed that he was "sorry" for the abuse Carney received online. 

Carney, who represented England in four World Cups during her playing career, retired from professional football in 2019. She had spells at Birmingham City, Arsenal, Chicago Red Stars before returning to Birmingham. Carney spent her last four years at Chelsea. 

Carney currently works as a presenter for BT Sport. 

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Image Credits - AP