Matildas interim coach Tom Sermanni has condemned the “completely unnecessary and outrageous” comments made by radio presenter Marty Sheargold about women’s football but insists they haven’t affected Australia’s preparations for Thursday’s match against Colombia in San Diego.
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Triple M on Wednesday apologised for the Sheargold’s comments, which were made on Monday on his afternoon radio show.
Sheargold said he would rather “hammer a nail through the head of my penis” than watch women’s football and he was “sorry to undermine the whole sport, but that’s what I think of it so you can stick it up your arse”.
Sheargold’s comments also included a reference to the name of the tournament the Matildas are playing in, the She Believes Cup, saying, “Oh she believes in what? It better be men.”
His show did not air on Wednesday afternoon and Triple M has since made the call to part ways with Sheargold, with the station announcing they had “mutually agreed” to the decision.
“Southern Cross Austereo takes its responsibility to listeners, shareholders and clients seriously and its programming should align with the standards and expectations of its audience,” SCA Chief Content Officer Dave Cameron said in a statement.
“Right now, it’s clear this is a moment for reflection and review. Triple M, and the wider SCA network, will continue to take all necessary steps to support staff.”
Sheargold said: “Having mutually agreed to part ways with the Triple M Network, I fully understand the gravity of my comments.
“I’d like to sincerely apologise to the Matildas and the broader organisation. I would also like to thank my immediate team for their hard work and apologise for the situation they now find themselves in.”
Football Australia on Wednesday issued a statement, saying it was “deeply disappointed by the unacceptable comments” and they “not only diminish the extraordinary achievements and contributions of our women’s national football team but also fail to recognise the profound impact they have had on Australian sport and society”.
Sermanni said sports teams were “used to criticism” but Sheargold’s comments “crossed the line”.
“It’s completely unnecessary and generally outrageous, and, it’s something that from a behavioural perspective, is really very, very disappointing,” he said.
“For me, it’s not so much about sexism and misogyny, in a sense, although that’s unacceptable – let me make that clear.
“It’s what the comments were. The comments just crossed the line. They were just basically out of order and very, very unnecessary.
“Our team is obviously a very high-profile team, and being a high-profile team, you do take criticism, you do create criticism sometimes very near the edge, but sometimes that just goes over the edge, and those comments did that.”
Triple M’s statement included a personal apology from Sheargold.
“Any comedy, including mine, can miss the mark sometimes, and I can see why people may have taken offence at my comments regarding the Matildas,” he said.
“I sincerely apologise.”
Sermanni said his team had moved on from the matter and was concentrating on beating Colombia after losses to Japan (4-0) and USA (2-1).
“We’ll put that behind us … we’re here to play football,” he said.
“The players have just completely focused on the game.”
Sermanni was expecting a “physical” contest similar to Australia’s two matches against Brazil – won 3-1 and 2-1 by the South Americans – in Queensland last year.
“(It will) probably be more of a Brazil-style game that … so that’d be more a very physical game,” he said.
“They’ve got a couple of outstanding players in the line-up. We need to look after them, and being South American, they’ve got a certain rhythm, a certain way of playing that’s a little bit different to the Japanese and a little bit different to the Americans.”
Having been “bullied” by Japan last week, Sermanni was happier with the amount of challenges his side won against the Americans on Monday and wants more of the same on Thursday.
“We had a pretty serious chat after the first game (against Japan), and I think the players responded magnificently in that second game,” he said.
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