Andy Grey sacked in "sexism" row

[Lissa]

Sky has sacked football presenter Andy Gray with immediate effect.

The pundit had already been disciplined for sexist comments made about female referee Sian Massey before Saturday's match between Wolves and Liverpool.

The 55-year-old and colleague Richard Keys were stood down for Monday's match between Bolton and Chelsea.

And on Tuesday, Sky Sports said it had terminated Gray's contract "in response to new evidence of unacceptable and offensive behaviour".

Sky's statement continued: "The new evidence, relating to an off-air incident that took place in December, 2010, came to light after Andy Gray had already been subjected to disciplinary action for his comments of 22 January, 2011."

The new footage, which was recorded last month but only came to light in the last 24 hours, appears to show Gray making a suggestive comment towards colleague Charlotte Jackson, who does not openly react while he and Keys then burst out laughing.

I'm in different minds about this. On the one hand his remarks about the lineswomanman were basically harmless and, on the evidence of her performance in the match, his post-match analysis would almost certainly have praised her getting the big offside call right and maybe he would've learned a valuable lesson. At worst this was a bit of harmless banter which perfectly reasonable chaps have every day up and down the country.

But on the other hand if it had been an Asian linesman and Grey had said "Asians don't understand offside. They don't even play football in India" people wouldn't be so quick to brush it aside.

But, invoking an artificial third hand for the purposes of making a point, shouldn't the person being sacked be whoever illegally recorded this private conversation and then gave the tape to a hostile newspaper? This hardly falls under the protection of whistle blowing. At a time when phone hacking is in the news, how is it morally different to record a private chat and use it as the basis of an otherwise non-existent news story than it is to hack into someone's voice mail for the same reason?

And, quickly running out of real hands to hold the plastic hands that are keeping this post going, isn't it just a tiny bit of a massive coincidence that Andy Grey gets sacked from Sky over something fairly trivial just as it becomes known he's suing the News of the World for hacking his voice mail?

No one comes out of this looking good - except Sian Massey who is not unattractive (SACK ME NOW~!) - the Mail are hypocrites for using illegally obtained evidence while denouncing other papers for doing the same thing, Grey and Keys seem rather tiresome and pathetic middle aged men, Sky are gutless cowards (and hypocrites because they only hire attractive young women as sports presenters while the men can look like Matt LeTissier) and Karen Brady... well I'd rather not listen to a feminist lecture from someone who has spent her entire career working for a pornographer.

[Captain Tancredi]

The ironic thing is that Tranmere might have finished the 2000 League Cup Final with eleven men if the previous woman to officiate at that level had given Emile Heskey offside. Instead, Heskey went down like a sack of spuds under a last-ditch challenge from Clint Hill, the President gets a second yellow card and John Aldridge gets called up before the FA for slapping Theo Zagorakis who was supposedly laughing his head off at the incident.

Personally I'd like to know how many derogatory comments about men are made in the average episode of Loose Women (including the adverts). The whole thing about women not being able to understand the offside rule is an old joke- the female equivalent is the one about never being able to park properly because men tell them that two inches are actually six- but it isn't exactly helpful to the woman involved because every time she runs the line now she's going to be the story.

[Si Hunt]

I Don't like the man - he seems like a smug, overpaid oaf. But there's a feeling that this kind of conversation goes in every week in every pub. Since they were "off duty" why should he be sacked? Should my employers be allowed to take me to task for comments made at home if they secretely taped them?

On the other hand, this does seem symptomatic of a nasty, brutish face of football that could do with being stamped out. Just as my employer might reasonably go cool on me if he saw me on a BNP march, do we want a man with this attitude as the weekly face of football?

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

It's worrying to think that one comment 'off camera' could be a sacking offence. And I can't help but think that if, for example, it had been a female commentator saying something like "That referee has made some excellent decisions, but I bet he doesn't know how to even boil an egg" it would have been shrugged off far more quickly.

Mind you, I haven't really been following this story. Who exactly complained in the first place, or is it yet another story where the media is reporting an 'outcry' that they caused in the first place?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

the Mail are hypocrites for using illegally obtained evidence while denouncing other papers for doing the same thing

That's our illegally obtained evidence!

[SiHart]

Is it wrong not to care about this at all?

Si xx

[Lissa]

Nope - it's perfectly normal not to care. Just ask Sky News, Sky Sports News and the Sun who have all pretty much ignored it.

[SiHart]

"Mes football should be reffed by men, women's football by women" was particularly outstanding comment from a football game last night, who the BBC managed to get an opinion from. Says it all.

Si xx

[Lissa]

The thing is, women refs would be a good thing because players would be less prone to screaming abuse in the ref's face if he was a she. Rooney, Terry and the like would behave differently if they knew the global TV audience was going to see them trying to bully a woman rather than a man. And the fans would react differently too. For all the supposed sexism of football fans, my sidekick (a Wolves fan for his inestimable sins) was at the game in question and says the crowd gave Sian far less abuse than a linesman normally gets even though her decision cost them a crucial goal. So "sexism" works both ways - there is a certain assumption that women aren't as competant but equally there is a part of most men that stops them treating women as badly as they treat other men.

[Jason Thompson]

It does seem a bit of an over-reaction to have sacked him for something he said when he was (to his knowledge) not being broadcast, and it seems they have rather conveniently found another example of sexist behaviour (jokingly asking a female co-presenter to help him tuck his microphone into his trousers) to bolster their case for getting rid of him.

That said, it was a rather stupid comment to make, as the obvious answer to 'what would she know about the offside rule?' would be 'exactly what she was taught when she was trained and qualified to be put on the pitch at a professional football match in the first place'.

[Si Hunt]

There's a hint that he's introducing the AGEISM angle into things. INTERESTING!

Andy Gray has reportedly complained to friends about feeling "stitched up" after being sacked by Sky Sports following accusations of sexism.

The presenter was fired by the broadcaster after suggesting that assistant referee Sian Massey would not know the offside rule due to her sex and for previous lewd comments to colleague Charlotte Jackson.

According to The Mirror, Gray, 55, believes that his superiors have used the storm over the comments to allow them to promote younger staff.

"He feels like he has been stitched up and people working against him at Sky have set all this up to get him the boot," a source claimed.

"He loved doing that job and didn't get much of a chance to get his point of view across. But it feels like a changing of the guard at Sky and this will give bosses a chance to promote Ben Shephard and Jamie Redknapp quicker."

Lawyers Schillings have confirmed that they have been instructed by Gray regarding his dismissal.

Gray's fiancée Rachel Lewis added yesterday: "He's wanted to apologise for the last few days, desperately. He was told not to by Sky."

[Perry Vale]

My take on it all is that it does rather seem to be a fuss over nothing, and quite probably there is more to it than meets the eye behind the scenes.

It is something that lots of males joke about, that I know of, but also quite a lot of women do so themselves. I've never seen any of that as malicious though.

So I'll be waiting to hear of the first case of a woman sacked for making jokes about men and 'Man-Flu', it can't be that far away now surely....

[duncan]

So I'll be waiting to hear of the first case of a woman sacked for making jokes about men and 'Man-Flu', it can't be that far away now surely....

So that's Loose Women and the latest Boots advert off the air then.

[Perry Vale]

No particular loss there then.

[Rob McCow]

Much as I may not like football and the 'personalities' involved, I don't think that anybody should have lost their job over this. Who have they actually offended? I'm sure the lineswoman in question doesn't give a fig for their opinions.

What's more, I think that people should be entitled to hold their own views in private. If they'd debased anyone publically then it might be a different matter. Andy Grey may be a sexist dinosaur, but that doesn't mean he's a bad football commentator. In fact, I'd have thought that those qualities were job requirements.