Football players forced to apologise after making sexist comments about female referee

Two players from Sparta Prague were forced to apologise after they told a female assistant referee to stay in the kitchen.

Lukas Vacha and Tomas Koubek have come under fire after they made sexist remarks about assistant referee Lucie Ratajova last weekend. According to The Guardian, Lucie failed to see an offside which meant that Sparta lost their 3-2 lead over Zbrojovka Brno following a goal in the last few minutes. After the game, Lukas tweeted a picture of Lucie with a caption reading “To the cooker”, while Tomas told the media after the game, “In my opinion, women should stay at the stove and not officiate men’s football.” [caption id="attachment_314361" align="alignnone" width="4793"] Tomas Koubek  (Photo by Matej Divizna/Getty Images)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_314362" align="alignnone" width="3000"] Lukas Vacha (Photo by Michal Cizek/EuroFootball/Getty Images)[/caption]   Even though both players issued apologies their clubs still found a fitting punishment which will see them train with the women's team as ambassadors. After the incident Lukas apologised by writing on his Facebook page: “I would like to make clear on my statement. The comment was aimed at the specific error that influenced the result of the game, not at any other women. If any of them feel offended by it, I would like to make myself clear that it was not meant in a chauvinistic way at all. I support women in ‘male posts’ and I support women’s football, too.” While Koubek posted on Facebook: “Yesterday in Brno, a mistake occurred that brought many emotions … I said a sentence right after the game that I feel sorry for now and I would like to apologise to all the women. It was not meant in a chauvinistic way, the words were aimed at a specific person and a specific situation that occurred during the game. At the opposite, I love my girls and want them to achieve something in their lives that we can be proud of.” Speaking about the comments, Czech FA chairman, Miroslav Pelta, said they “are totally unacceptable”. He added, “I would like to emphasise that women are and will be an important part of football and their presence in its structures and at the stands is important for football. “Football belongs to the wide public including families and women. We are trying to accommodate them and such statements are totally unacceptable. It will certainly be a topic at the next FA executive board meeting and I expect the disciplinary committee to react to it in a corresponding way.”