Chelsea boss Emma Hayes labels England a ‘more sexist society’ and says it is ‘more prevalent’ than in the USA following spate of misogynistic social media attacks on women in football
- Former footballer Joey Barton has recently attacked certain women in football
- Experts Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward have taken legal action against Barton
- Emma Hayes will move to the US this summer to coach the USNWT
Emma Hayes has said England has a ‘more sexist society’ than the US when asked about the recent controversy surrounding women in football.
The current boss of Chelse Womens, who will take charge of the US women’s national football team this summer, said the issue of sexism is “more prevalent” here in England.
Recent months have been marred by horrific and mysogonistic attacks on women working in football by former men’s player Joey Barton.
The former Fleetwood and Bristol Rovers manager has targeted pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, who have both taken legal action against Barton.
Barton has compared them to Fred and Rose West and specifically compared Aluko to Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.
Emma Hayes branded England a ‘more sexist society’ than the US when asked about the recent controversy surrounding women in football
Joey Barton has launched many scathing attacks on women working in men’s football
Speaking on the issue, Hayes said the history of the English game has influenced the way women are viewed in the sport.
“Yes we do, we live in a more sexist society in England (than the US) when it comes to football,” Hayes said.
“That’s because it’s been around for a longer time, over a longer period of time and when we were banned from the game for a long period of time.
“So many boys, men, haven’t grown up seeing girls and women in and around the game of football for a long time, let alone women’s football.
“That’s why it’s understandable that their confirmation base, their experiences and their prejudices are done in such a way, because they’re used to something, and it’s a real challenge to the norm.”
Eni Aluko has received some nasty comments from online social media trolls
Hayes continued to speak about the effects of social media and how it can often sow division in communities
Taking to social media, Hayes revealed: ‘When you think about a lot of things over the last decade in this country, from Brexit to our populism and our divisions in politics, for me this is just another moment that has escalated because unfortunately escalated a bit. A little bit of social media can create such a divide in such a vicious way, instead of us having ‘sensible conversations’.
“Unfortunately, that is not possible at the moment (having sensible conversations online).”