FA slammed for 'patronising and sexist' tweet about the England women's football team

 
Controversial: Official England Twitter account tweets poorly-worded message
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Sam Long6 July 2015

England’s official Twitter account posted a controversial message this afternoon after claiming that the women’s side would go back to being “mothers, partners, sisters and daughters” on their return from the World Cup in Canada.

Mark Sampson’s side recorded a third-place finish at the tournament, and became one of only three teams from these shores to reach a World Cup semi-final after defeating Germany on Saturday evening.

"These players, honestly, I don't know where they get it from, they find a way to dig deep," he told BBC Three.

"We said before the game, life's horrible, it's really tough sometimes, you get a kick in the teeth just when you think you've made it and wow did we get a kick in the teeth in our semi-final.

"But we wanted to show the world today that everyone has tough times but dust yourselves down, pick yourselves back up and go again.

"They're just awesome as a group of players. Awesome."

The Lionesses’ achievement has been widely praised and helped to disprove several stereotypes surrounding the sport.

However, the poorly worded Tweet, which was quickly deleted, was viewed as sexist by the majority of supporters and sparked several furious reactions on the popular social media platform.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Let's all laugh at this patronising &amp; sexist comment by <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/England?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/hashtag/England?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#England</a>'s <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/FA" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/FA" data-vars-event-id="c23">@FA</a> "There's a pile of ironing over there, luv!" <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&amp;id=222025&amp;p=http://t.co/6bCy9J04qO" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-http://t.co/6bCy9J04qO" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/6bCy9J04qO</a>— The Barry Horns (@thebarryhorns) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/thebarryhorns/status/618040503418912768" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/thebarryhorns/status/618040503418912768" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 6, 2015</a>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/england" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/england" data-vars-event-id="c23">@england</a> Way to miss the point, guys… <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&amp;id=222025&amp;p=http://t.co/sRre1IHsXs" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-http://t.co/sRre1IHsXs" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/sRre1IHsXs</a>— Michael Moran (@TheMichaelMoran) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/TheMichaelMoran/status/618038129367379968" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/TheMichaelMoran/status/618038129367379968" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 6, 2015</a>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">For those of you wondering what twitter would have looked like in the 50s, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/england" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/england" data-vars-event-id="c23">@england</a> has helpfully obliged <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lionesses?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lionesses?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#Lionesses</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&amp;id=222025&amp;p=http://t.co/loQJFPQDV3" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-http://t.co/loQJFPQDV3" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/loQJFPQDV3</a>— Lee Jenkins (@Lee_T_Jenkins) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Lee_T_Jenkins/status/618040909276393472" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/Lee_T_Jenkins/status/618040909276393472" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 6, 2015</a>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ironic that after the women's team have done so well to change people's opinions, the actual <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/england" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/england" data-vars-event-id="c23">@england</a> Twitter ramps the sexism back up again— Theo Elliott (@theoelliott) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/theoelliott/status/618043278722748416" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/theoelliott/status/618043278722748416" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 6, 2015</a>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Does <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/england" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/england" data-vars-event-id="c23">@England</a> realise that deleting that tweet doesn't really help them as there are millions of screenshots all over Twitter?!— Kate (@hamer30) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hamer30/status/618040757291720704" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/hamer30/status/618040757291720704" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 6, 2015</a>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/england" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/england" data-vars-event-id="c23">@england</a> ??????? Do male players return to be fathers and husbands? Own goal here!— Shaun@Dr.T (@DoctorT1992) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/DoctorT1992/status/618028751855714304" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-11151-https://twitter.com/DoctorT1992/status/618028751855714304" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 6, 2015</a>

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