Jamie Carragher apologized on Sky News. (Credit: YouTube/screenshot)
Sky Sports suspended commentator Jamie Carragher after the UK Mirror published video footage of him spitting at a man and his 14-year-old daughter. Before spitting, the video shows the man brought up the score of a football match between the Manchester United and Liverpool teams; Carragher used to play for Liverpool.
In a statement cited in a Sky Sports story on the incident, the network said it “takes this matter extremely seriously and strongly condemns Jamie’s actions. We have made that clear to him in person today and suspended him from his duties. It falls well below the standards we expect of our people”.
The Mirror‘s March 12 story published the video. The next day, he called the newspaper to apologize, according to the Mirror.
Carragher tweeted, “Totally out of order & Ive apologised personally to all the family this evening. I was goaded 3/4 times along the motorway while being filmed & lost my rag. No excuse apologies.”
Carragher also went on Sky News and discussed the video, saying it was a “moment of madness” and “a bad stain on me and my character, my career.” He said he was upset with the father not the daughter.
iMediaEthics wrote to Sky to ask how long the suspension will last; a Sky spokesperson said there is “no time period” and provided the followingstatement:
“Sky takes this matter extremely seriously and strongly condemns Jamie’s actions, we have made that clear to him in person today and suspended him from his duties. It falls well below the standards we expect of our people.”
We’ve tweeted Carragher for further comment.
“Carragher, who joined Sky Sports after retiring as a player in 2013, has become one of the station’s most popular and respected pundits, working regularly alongside former United defender Gary Neville,” the Mirror noted.
In addition to his suspension from Sky Sports, Danish broadcaster TV3 told Danish paper BT they would not use Carragher as planned to cover a March 13 match, according to the Guardian.
Totally out of order & Ive apologised personally to all the family this evening. I was goaded 3/4 times along the motorway while being filmed & lost my rag. No excuse apologies. https://t.co/ofrNfiwhYH
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) March 11, 2018
UPDATE: 3/13/2018 11:11 AM
