In what is easily the weirdest news of the day, a squash club has been forced to apologise after awarding female winners of a tournament sex toys, Veet and a Scholl foot file. Yes, really.
After winning the Asturias Squash Championship four women received trophies just like their male counterparts, in addition to a Durex vibrator, a Veet Spawax kit and a Scholl Velvet Smooth electronic foot file. Handy.
Understandably, the winners weren’t best pleased. Since the news broke, three people have resigned from the club in North-West Spain which has apologised for the incident, according to The Metro, including the president Nacho Manzano.
‘We feel terribly ashamed by what’s happened,’ he told a local paper, ‘and we understand the gifts were not the appropriate ones but it was never our intention to offend anyone.’ The club has decided not to organise any more events this year.
Sexism in sport is nothing new, ahead of this year’s ‘summer of women’s sport’ when a season of major women’s sporting events will, it’s hoped, enjoy a groundswell of support, we spoke to former Arsenal defender turned broadcaster Alex Scott.
Last year, Alex made history as a BBC pundit at the men’s World Cup in Russia, as the first female former player to take that role at a men’s tournament.
‘I wasn’t thinking, “Oh my gosh, I’m the first female pundit and everyone is going to be looking at me,”’ she says. ‘As a player I had to be the best equipped I could be, and it’s exactly the same as a pundit. Every time I played in an England shirt I knew I needed to be at my best or I would be at risk of losing my place in the team. It’s no different in this field. I never take it for granted.’
‘I want to get to a point where people are not referring to me as “that female pundit.”’