Emma Hayes and ITV face down critics of her ‘sexist’ kitchen chalkboard set and replace it with magnets!
Emma Hayes has brushed off accusations of sexism after ITV upgraded its World Cup tactics board to include a magnet following complaints that the analytics area resembled a ‘tiny kitchen’.
Viewers had questioned why the US coach, who won a record 15 trophies with Chelsea, was given a small blackboard rather than a digital touchscreen for his tactical analysis of England’s win over Croatia on Wednesday night.
One TV insider described the set-up, which comes with several lockers, as ‘utterly embarrassing’ and asked if male pundits like Gary Neville would be in the same situation.
ITV appear to have taken the criticism to heart and gave Hayes, 49, a magnetic, raised board for analysis of Brazil’s 3-0 win over Haiti last night.
While the pundit was still presenting from the same studio, ITV’s cameras zoomed in heavily on Hayes, making the ‘kitchen-style’ set-up less visible.
Hayes himself appeared to touch on the “sexism” debate at the beginning of his analysis.
“Let’s focus especially on the first half,” he said.
Hayes then turned around and looked directly under the camera lens and said: ‘I know this is challenging for some of us at home but I’m going to encourage us to look at what’s going on in the game.’
FRIDAY: Emma Hayes raises World Cup tactics board after viewers accused ITV of sexism by making it look like she was presenting from a ‘tiny kitchen’
WEDNESDAY: ITV viewers questioned why Hayes was forced to carry out his analysis in what looked like a kitchen
As he made his comment, he pointed to his board, which was equipped with white and blue magnetic pieces to represent the players.
ITV’s poor decisions during the England v Croatia match had led to a series of memes in which Hayes’ zeros and crosses were replaced with a shopping list.
Others have put it on a pinny, using AI to add a sink, faucet, stacks of dishes, tea towels, and even an ironing board.
Another showed Emma making tea for her ITV colleagues, with Manhattan in the background.
A TV source said the set was ‘hugely embarrassing’ for ITV and humiliating for Ms Hayes, who is arguably the best women’s coach in world football.
‘Can you imagine ITV putting Gary Neville on a set like this? There’s no way this could happen. “This is very shameful,” he said.
Former BBC football presenter Dan Walker said on Thursday: ‘I really like Emma Hayes and think she’s an insightful expert.
‘I don’t know why they decided to make it look like they were writing the specials on a bistro blackboard.’
A series of AI memes show Hayes writing down his shopping list rather than expertly analyzing England’s game
Another meme was shared online after the match, showing Hayes doing dishes
A meme showed Hayes drawing an ironing board instead of England’s attacking formation
Sports journalist Michael Hincks wrote in the i newspaper: ‘ITV installed Hayes in a corner of their New York studios; This undoubtedly looked like a kitchen, which only fed the trolls for an easy buildup.
‘ITV seemed naive to me, hanging Hayes out to dry and that will certainly change going forward in this World Cup.’
One viewer said: ‘I’m not sure ITV is hugely advancing the idea of women’s equality in football by having Emma Hayes give her analysis from a set that looks like she’s stuck in a kitchen?’
Another critic said: ‘This is sad from ITV. Emma Hayes is smart, articulate and insightful, but she’s built to provide micro-analysis from a weird kitchen setup with a chalkboard that’s not even rectangular.
‘It makes it look amateurish when nothing happens. Imagine Neville doing this!!’
ITV has been contacted for comment.
