The echoes of the decision to suspend Polish sports commentator Przemyslaw Babiaz for his opinion during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris have not subsided yet, and another Olympic commentator, Bob Ballard, who works for British Eurosport, has already lost his job.
It all happened during the final training session in the Olympic pool. After the final of the women's 4×100 m freestyle relay, the Australian gold medalists celebrated their success for quite a long time, which is why the competition schedule was slightly delayed. To which Ballard remarked on the air:
"So yes, women are slowly finishing up. Do you know what women are like… They're hanging out, wearing makeup."
Instantly, the Briton was accused of sexism. The first to react was Australian journalist Emily Benammar:
"Bob, lower your head in shame and get off the air! During a comment on "At Eurosport, "he used a sexist stereotype when Australian players deservedly celebrated together."
After a wave of angry comments, the radio station announced the termination of the cooperation agreement with Ballard.
"During the report, Bob Ballard made an inappropriate comment. Therefore, he was immediately removed from our comment group," we read in an official statement.
Earlier, EADaily reported that commentator Przemyslaw Babiaz was fired in Poland, who was outraged by a line from John Lennon's song "Imagine", where it is sung that "there will be no countries and religions."