The Scottish Football Writers' Association has apologised amid claims that sexist and racist remarks made by a speaker at an award ceremony in Glasgow prompted attendees to walk out.
The association released a statement in response to the “sickening” comments from after-dinner speaker Bill Copeland at the SFWA awards at the Hilton DoubleTree hotel on Sunday night.
It's claimed the former defence lawyer’s speech included references to porn and racial and misogynistic slurs, and resulted in Sky Sports' Eilidh Barbour and Gabriella Bennett, the co-chair of Women In Journalism Scotland leaving the room.
Speaking to Glasgow Live, Ms Bennett said: “It was a speech that lasted around 20 minutes, but within the first five minutes there were at least three offensive comments towards women.
“I have been to many of these ceremonies over the years but this was by far the most explicit. The sexist and racial slurs were sickening and totally inappropriate, particularly given that they were made on stage in a professional setting.”
Ms Bennett claims Copeland’s presentation began with him “swearing in a very aggressive open gambit” and she says she was shocked as the speech “snowballed quickly into a barrage insults”.
She said: “It only got worse and the first five minutes were chockablock, with offensive references towards women.
“When the racial slur happened there were gasps but there was also laughter.
“It was then myself and my table got up, and I saw Eilidh Barbour and people on her table start to leave too. But there were loads of people laughing at these jokes. We were two tables in a room of maybe 800 and lots of people found it really funny.
"I'm not particularly surprised but it does highlight that there’s lots of work that we still need to do in really changing people’s minds about what’s acceptable.
Following the ceremony, Sky Sports' Eilidh Barbour - who has also worked for the BBC - tweeted: "Never felt so unwelcome in the industry I work in than sitting at the Scottish Football Writers Awards. A huge reminder there is still so much to do in making our game an equal place."
The annual awards, which also saw Sir Alex Ferguson receive a lifetime achievement award, has seen the body pledge to review its format.
In a statement released on the SFWA website on Monday following the backlash, the Scottish Football Writers’ Association said it “apologises to anyone offended or upset by material from one of our after-dinner speakers”.
The statement added: “We have agreed unanimously that this will act as a catalyst to review and improve the format of our future events to make it an enjoyable and inspirational event for all.”
Glasgow Live has contacted Bill Copeland for comment.
