Cork City have condemned the "extremely inappropriate comments" directed towards players on a live stream of the Women's Under-17 National League Final.
On what was a joyous evening for Cork City's Women's U17 team as they triumphed in a league decider with Shamrock Rovers, comments made by a selection of viewers of the live stream have subsequently dominated the discourse surrounding this match.
Brought to prominence after Shamrock Rovers' Jessie Stapleton highlighted some of what was said via her Twitter account, Cork City have now issued a statement on the incident.
"Unfortunately, the club became aware of a small minority of individuals who left extremely inappropriate comments on the live stream video of the league final," the statement released on Wednesday evening read.
"Cork City FC categorically condemns this behaviour. The club prides itself on equality and fairness across all of our eight teams from the men’s, women’s and amputees."
What comes with playing girls football in Ireland 👌🏻👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/saQwjnVTqu
— Jessie Stapleton (@JessStapleton_) December 23, 2020
One week after the sides met one another in Athlone, Shamrock Rovers and the Football Association of Ireland issued statements on the matter in recent days.
In light of Stapleton's addressing of the issue online, she received much positive feedback and support from onlookers disgruntled and disgusted with what had occurred.
"It was a huge win for the team and a fantastic way to finish 2020," Cork City chairman Declan Carey stated. "Sadly the comments on the video shine a negative light on issues still existing within football and, indeed, society. While we cannot control this behaviour directly, we always strive to promote equality throughout the club."
After the match was streamed on the FAI's YouTube channel, it stated that the comments are "not acceptable in any circumstance" and they're committing to closely monitor comments on streams in the future.
"The FAI is aware of comments made by members of the public during the live streaming of the Women’s Under 17 League final on Wednesday afternoon, broadcast with the assistance of an outside agency. Such comment is not acceptable in any circumstance.
"These comments have now been removed and the FAI will closely monitor the comment function on all future live streams."
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