Fans have branded comments made by a Man United executive as 'sexist' and 'embarrassing' after he told a star player he wouldn't hand a trophy to her because it was 'really heavy.'
The cringe-worthy exchange between United Women's star Alessia Russo and club charity exec, John Shiels, has been circulating on social media after Russo was handed the player of the year gong at the club's end-of-season award ceremony on Monday night.
Taking to Twitter, Shiels apologised to the England international and her teammates, saying he was 'mortified' by the offence caused and 'upset' that his comments were misconstrued.
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The clip has been viewed over 600,000 times on Twitter, with Manchester United podcaster Conner Roberts calling the comment 'unnecessary'.
"Second hand embarrassment from this," he wrote. "Alessia looks so uncomfortable and embarrassed. Unfortunately still people out there who treat female athletes differently.
"Such an unnecessary comment to make."
Commenting on the clip, another Twitter user said: "These are our players… we should be protecting them not adding to the misogyny and sexist comments that they already have to live with."
And another labelled it 'casual sexism', adding it was a 'poor' way to treat the player. In the clip, the England Euro 2022 winner can be seen smiling as host Geoff Shreeves said: "I'm sure you (Russo) can take it quite happily can't you?".
In a statement posted on Twitter this morning, Mr Shiels said he was 'mortified' by the way his comment had been 'misconstrued'.
"Last night I had the honour of presenting Alessia Russo with the Women’s Goal of the Season award at the Manchester United end-of-season awards ceremony," he wrote. "I made a comment about the weight of the trophy which I know has caused offence.
"I am mortified by this and want to apologise to Alessia, her teammates, and anyone else offended. I alerted Alessia to the weight of the trophy because I was shocked by how heavy it felt, and would have done the same if presenting to a male player.
"I simply did not want her to drop it. However, on reflection, I can see why the comment has been misconstrued. Female empowerment is at the heart of Manchester United Foundation’s work, with almost 10,000 girls and young women taking part in our programmes annually.
"I’m proud of this work and upset that my remarks created a distraction from the fantastic achievements of Alessia and the women’s team this season."
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