Rebekah Vardy hits back at critics amid backlash over ‘ridiculous’ Women's World Cup 'equality' tweet

Vardy seemed to take issue with BBC Sport's all-female line-up
Backlash: Rebekah Vardy has been criticised over her tweet
Alex Morton/Getty Images
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Rebekah Vardy has clarified her criticism of the BBC’s all-female pundit line-up for the Women’s World Cup England vs. Scotland match after being called out over her comments.

Vardy, who is married to Leicester City footballer Jamie, shared a photo on Twitter of the all-female presenting panel during yesterday’s Group D match, captioning it: “Umm what happened to equality…..”

Social media users described her remark as “ridiculous” and “silly,” with others sharing photos of all-male line-ups to contradict her point.

When one Twitter user suggested that she should be “all for women being given this opportunity” and that her comment was “opening the door for more men to unnecessarily try [to] hate on the women’s game,” Vardy asserted that she was “just making a point.”

“Woahhhh I 100% fully support women’s football and women in football as I do in all sport!” she wrote. “They did and do a great job! I’m just making a point.”

She went on to suggest that more men need to be involved in women’s football in order to raise its profile, writing: “I’ll draw a line and say this. Men need to be more involved in women’s football to get it where it needs and DESERVES to be…

“We have some incredibly talented players… end of.”

Presenter Alex Scott, who features on the BBC’s line-up of pundits for the Women’s World Cup, replied to Vardy’s initial remark with a photo of her and colleagues Gabby Logan and Hope Solo alongside male co-presenter Dion Dublin.

“Maybe you missed the France v South Korea game,” she wrote alongside the post.

Vardy then asserted that the broadcaster had “missed” her point and claimed that she had been “shocked” to see no men covering the England match, suggesting that men would have been “fighting” to cover it had it been a male game.

“It was great to have women playing a prominent role in the men’s World Cup,” she wrote. “Shocking for a big game that no men were available to cover it. If it had been Eng v Sco men, the men would have been fighting to cover it but not one there for the women’s game.”

England won 2-1 to Scotland and are now top of the Group D table. They will play Argentina on Friday.

In Pictures | Fifa Women's World Cup | 09/06/19

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