Holger Osieck, manager of the Australian national soccer team, Socceroos, caused an uproar this week when he quipped that 'women should shut up in public' -- in public.
At a post-match press conference on Tuesday, Osieck volunteered his support of the Latin saying “Mulieres taceres in ecclesia,” which he said translates to “women should shut up in public” (although, as Ryan Bailey of Yahoo! Sports notes, this is actually a mistranslation). Unsurprisingly, this off-the-cuff comment was not received well.
A day later, Osieck issued the standard non-apology apology: “It was off the record, it was more a funny remark,” he stated. “It was nothing against any women or whatever. Definitely just a complete misunderstanding.”
This is hardly the first instance of a man in the sports world making an offensive comment about women. In June of 2012, French tennis player Gilles Simon defended Wimbledon's prize money gender gap, saying: "The equality in salaries isn't something that works in sport." And in January 2011, former British soccer player and commentator Andy Gray went on an off-air rant about a female "linesman" (referee). "Female linesman ... they probably don't know the offside rule," he said in response to a particular call. "Why is there a female linesman? Somebody's f**ked up big."
We're tired of hearing about -- and writing about -- these sort of obviously inappropriate comments. So, gentlemen: Please stop making them.
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