Just to avoid confusion: I assume that since it's the U.K., what you're calling "football" is what we in the U.S. call "soccer," right?

If he gets canned, it will be due to the performance of the team. If they were in first place, his job would be secure.

Yup!

At least he's honest about being sexist. I prefer that to "I'm not sexist, but..."

Yeah, I hate that 'I'm not [insert obviously bigoted paradigm] but, [insert bigoted comment]." shit.

indeed!
ain't nothing harder than trying to convince someone that he/she isn't a horse, just a jackass.

indeed!
ain't nothing harder than trying to convince someone that he/she isn't a horse, just a jackass.

I don't know, this sounds to me like "I hate political correctness! Women are feeble and should know their place."

RM is right, he could say whatever he wanted if the team was doing well. Lovely, isn't it?

I agree: I don't like what he said, but at least he's honest about being sexist. It's so irritating trying to show someone how they're racist/sexist/homophobic when that person is just too dishonest to own up to it.

And although, again, I don't like this particular comment, I do think it's funny, and it gives me more sympathy for him, that he's apparently constantly attacking everyone in a position of power.

"I agree: I don't like what he said, but at least he's honest about being sexist."

Ehhh... hard to say, Hera. I could see this sort of "honest sexism" either being very good or very bad. If his comments are met with negative repurcussions, I tend to think it's good. That way, it sends the message that being sexist is not cool.

On other other hand, you can have people like a certain very powerful lawyer I work with, who openly admit to holding extremely sexist views (and imposing those views in the form of how we run certain firm-sponsored events), and aren't hurt by it because they're so powerful. It seems to me this sends the message that blatant sexism is okay if you make a lot of money. And while I understand that covert sexism can be just as harmful, in certain situations I'd almost rather have people forced to hide their views because they are simply so unacceptable that you shouldn't hold them no matter *who* you are.

Maybe it's because comments like this hit too close to home for me, but I don't like *anyone* even *opining* that sexism is okay or acceptable. If he'd said "I know that sounds racist but I am racist, so I am not going to be anything other than that" he'd be out of a job already. I honestly don't see why this should be any different.

Hi, Law Fairy. Yeah, I might be naive, and thinking that no one can ever get away with saying, "Hey, I'm sexist, deal with it." But you're right, if someone can get away with saying that, and suggesting it's okay because they've got enough power to force, say, large numbers of employees to accept it, it is much worse than mealy-mouthed hypocrisy. The example you mentioned might be even worse, because it may send a message to both male and female employees that parroting sexist views is necessary to advance in the firm.

Hera, not even necessarily naivete -- I definitely absolutely see the value in bringing sexism out into the open, and to the extent that this points out to people who acknowledge that sexism is bad, that this is a sexist view, it's definitely good.

Like I said, this one hits close to home (I was recently in a meeting where sexist comments were acknowledged to be sexist, and were then used as the *justification* of a sexist practice, and no one did shit about it because this guy's so fucking powerful. And I've been sitting here pissed off about it for weeks now) so part of it is just my bias. I'm not sure that either of us is "right" here -- like many issues, it probably has answers that are varying shades of gray, so to speak.

As a football fan, maybe I can provide some background on this. Female referees/assistants are still thin on the ground and while it's going to take the players and managers a little while to get used to it, the fans are pretty much on board already. We're used to, and sick of, managers blaming referees, linespersons, etc. for losing matches, and this obviously falls into that bracket. Unlike managers, coaches, etc. there's no 'they need playing experience within the game' excuse; any halfway reasonable person can see that a woman with similar experience and skill is just as capable of officiating a game as any guy.

Newell seems to have been moaning about political correctness as a rule. While it's understandable (if not remotely justifiable) that this thing will happen within a transition period, the football association doesn't take kindly to one of its officials being slagged off in this way. It's pretty much a sure thing that he'll be charged with bringing the game into disrepute, and fined - rightly so. If someone can do the job then they should be able to get on with it, regardless of gender or any other factor, and free of unjustified criticism.

As a football fan myself, there is no other justifiable recourse other than Newell getting sacked - end of.

Unfortunately, they gave him one more chance.