A football coach has been forced to apologise after saying “women are more emotional than men.”
The Northern Ireland national women’s team boss, Kenny Shiels made the comments after seeing his team lose 5-0 to England on Tuesday night.
But after receiving criticism for his remarks, Mr Shiels issued an apology.
He said: “I wish to apologise for my comments made in the post-match press conference last night. I am sorry for the offence that they have caused.
Northern Ireland manager Kenny Shiels has apologised for his comments
Liam McBurney
Ian Wright was among those to slam Mr Shiels
Tim Markland
“Last night was a special occasion for the women’s game in Northern Ireland and I am proud to manage a group of players who are role models for so many girls, and boys, across the country.
“I am an advocate for the women’s game and passionate about developing opportunities for women and girls to flourish.”
After seeing his team concede four goals inside 27 minutes, Mr Shiels said yesterday: “In the women’s game, I’ve noticed, as I’m sure you’re aware, if you go through the patterns.
“When a team concedes a goal they concede a second one in a very very short period of time, right through the whole spectrum of the women’s game, because girls and women are more emotional than men.
“So, they take a goal going in not very well.
“When we went 1-0 down we tried to slow it down to give them time to get that emotional imbalance out of their heads.
"That's an issue we have. Not just in Northern Ireland but all of the countries in the world.”
He then added: “I shouldn’t have told you that.”
The comments were slammed by many across the football world, including legendary Arsenal forward Ian Wright.
In a tweet accompanied by two photos of him crying, Wright said: "Kenny Shiels talking foolishness!
"Talking about emotional women ! Didn’t that man see how many times I was crying on the PITCH!"