Chelsea boss Emma Hayes labels England a ‘more sexist society’ and claims misogynistic remarks are ‘more prevalent’ than in the USA following spate of social media attacks on women in football

Emma Hayes has said England has a ‘more sexist society’ than the US when asked about the recent controversy surrounding women in football. 

The current Chelsea Women boss, who will take the reigns of the US women national team in the summer, said the issue of sexism was ‘more prevalent’ here in England. 

The previous few months have been tarnished by horrific and misogynistic attacks from Joey Barton on women working in football.

The former Fleetwood and Bristol Rovers manager has targeted pundits Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, who have both taken legal action against Barton. 

Barton has compared them to Fred and Rose West and has specifically likened Aluko to Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.

Joey Barton has launched many scathing attacks on women working in mens football

Speaking on the issue, Hayes said the history of the English game has affected how women in the sport are perceived.

‘Yes, we do, we live in a more sexist society in England [than the US] with regards to football,’ Hayes said. 

‘That’s because it’s been long-established over a longer period of time and when we were banned from the game for a long period of time. 

‘So many boys, men, haven’t grown up for long periods of time [seeing] girls and women in and around the game of football, let alone women’s football. 

‘Therefore, it’s understandable that their confirmation basis and their experiences and their prejudices are done in such a way, because they’re used to something, and it’s a real challenge to the norm.’ 

Eni Aluko has been on the recieving end of some nasty comments from online social media trolls

Hayes continued to speak about the effects of social media and how it can often have a divisive effect on communities

On social media, Hayes revealed: ‘If you think about lots of things in the last 10 years in this country, from Brexit, to our populism, to our division in politics, for me this is just another moment that’s escalated because sadly a little bit of social media can create such a divide in such a vitriolic way, instead of us having ‘sensible conversations’.

‘Unfortunately you can’t do that [have sensible conversations online] at this moment in time.’