BBC Information, Brisbane
Getty PhotosA presenter on considered one of Australia’s greatest radio networks has apologised after feedback he made concerning the nationwide girls’s soccer group had been condemned as misogynist and disrespectful.
Marty Sheargold mentioned the Matildas gamers reminded him of “12 months 10 women” and he inferred matches had been boring.
The game’s Australian governing physique mentioned the remarks aired reside on Triple M had been “unacceptable” and “deeply disappointing”.
Additionally they “diminish the extraordinary achievements” of a group that had been semi-finalists within the Girls’s World Cup in 2023, Soccer Australia added.
On Wednesday, Sheargold put out a brief assertion saying: “Any comedy, together with mine, can miss the mark typically, and I can see why folks might have taken offence to my feedback relating to the Matildas. I sincerely apologise.”
The BBC understands the host will handle the difficulty on air later.
Throughout his drivetime present on Monday afternoon, Sheargold interjected throughout a sports activities bulletin, which was discussing Australia’s defeat to the US and its second consecutive loss within the SheBelieves Cup.
“You already know what they remind me of? Yr 10 women,” Sheargold mentioned, to the laughter of his co-hosts.
“All of the infighting and all of the friendship points… Now I am sorry to undermine the entire sport, however that is what I consider it.”
When his colleague talked about the SheBelieves Cup by title, Sheargold interrupted saying: “Oh, she believes in what? It higher be males.”
And when reference was made to Australia internet hosting the AFC Girls’s Asian Cup subsequent 12 months, he mentioned “oh god – the Asian Cup”, earlier than criticising the occasion with an obscene remark. He then requested his co-host: “Obtained any males’s sport?”
Southern Cross Austereo, the guardian firm of Triple M, mentioned the feedback “don’t align with Triple M’s views and values, and Triple M stays steadfast in its sturdy help of all girls’s and males’s sports activities”.
“We’re sorry for any offence prompted,” it mentioned.
Minister for Sport Anika Wells referred to as the feedback “boorish, boring and incorrect”.
“Australia’s most watched tv occasion ever was the Matildas World Cup semi-final; the Tillies’ quarterfinal is the second-most-watched occasion in Australian historical past,” Ms Wells mentioned.
Australian Olympian Ambrosia Malone, who represents her nation in hockey, additionally criticised Sheargold.
“All I may take into consideration was the younger women sitting within the automotive with their dad and mom, possibly on the best way to or from their very own coaching classes listening to this,” she wrote on social media.
“I am certain a lot of them would have been harm and confused… I used to be in disbelief.
“That is apparently acceptable on mainstream afternoon radio??? HOW??”
Soccer Australia added: “This incident is a stark reminder of the duty media shops and personalities have in fostering respectful and constructive discussions about girls’s sport and its members.”
