Leeds issue statement to ‘completely condemn’ abuse aimed at Karen Carney

Leeds United have “completely condemned” the abuse aimed at former England international Karen Carney, but have decided against deleting the Twitter post that triggered several vitriolic messages aimed at the Amazon Prime pundit.

Carney has faced a barrage of abuse in the wake of comments she made ahead of Leeds United’s Premier League meeting with West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night. The 144-time capped Lioness suggested that Leeds would not have won the Championship title last season - and with it promotion to the Premier League - had it not been for the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought a three-month suspension to English football in March.

The former Arsenal, Birmingham City and Chelsea winger expressed the opinion on the belief that Leeds may have hit a late-season slump in similar circumstances to the 2018/19 campaign, where their promotion hopes went up in smoke. The comment was also in relation to head coach Marcelo Bielsa’s reputation for a demanding style of football, that has in the past led to suggestions of player burnout.

“They (Leeds) out-run everyone and credit to them,” Carney said. “My only concern would be, ‘would they blow up at the end of the season?’

READ MORE: Leeds owner supports controversial tweet mocking Carney 

“We saw that in the last couple of seasons and I actually think they got promoted because of Covid in terms of it gave them a bit of respite. I don't know whether they would have gone up if they didn't have that break.”

Leeds went on to deliver an emphatic victory over a struggling West Brom outfit as they recorded a 5-0 win, but the fallout from the match has surrounding a tweet sent by the club’s official Twitter account, which mocked Carney’s comments in hindsight of the win. The post subsequently triggered a ‘pile-on’ of abuse from Leeds fans, with many comments referencing Carney’s gender and using hateful and abusive language.

The club doubled down on their post when chairman Andrea Radrizzani said he took “responsibility” for the tweet because Carney’s comments were “unnecessary and disrespectful”, but Leeds have now issued a statement to condemn fans who abused Carney.

It read: “Leeds United completely condemns any abuse received by Karen Carney on social media following last night’s Premier League game with West Bromwich Albion.

“Everyone at our club respects Karen greatly for all she has achieved in the game, as well as her work in the media and the charity work she undertakes.”

Leeds have not apologised to Carney, and have left the controversial tweet on their profile while deciding against posting the statement on their website or Twitter profile, but they faced a fierce backlash to their social media action given that they should have been aware of the vitriol that the post opened Carney to, according to the Women in Football group.

“Whether you agree with the comment or not, singling out and ridiculing an individual on an official club account is not what we’re here for,” a Women in Football statement said.

“Karen Carney is a well-informed pundit. This tweet is inciteful and inappropriate.”

The statement also comes after club chairman Radrizzani doubled down on the original post on Tuesday night.

He said: “I take the responsibility of the club tweet. I consider that comment completely unnecessary and disrespectful to our club and particularly to the fantastic hard work of our players and coaches whom were understanding on the pitch for the last two Championship seasons by all stats.”

Several Leeds players backed Radrizzani’s response, with midfielder Mateusz Klich and defender Ben White - who was on loan at Leeds last season from Brighton - issuing emoji responses on Twitter to laugh at Carney’s comments.

Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling also added his voice to criticism of Carney, with the veteran broadcasters saying: “Leeds so lucky that Covid intervened. They had only won five in a row before the season suspended. Clearly running out of steam!!!”

However, rather than disagree with Carney, several Leeds fans posted abusive and sexually discriminatory comments aimed at the former England international.