A sports activities writers' affiliation has apologised after an after-dinner speaker at its awards allegedly littered his speech with off-colour jibes, prompting a walk-out by feminine attendees.
Eilidh Barbour, who studies for Sky Sports activities Information and BBC Sport, criticised the tone of ex-criminal defence lawyer Invoice Copeland's speech on the Scottish Soccer Writers' Affiliation (SFWA) dinner on Sunday.
In a tweet that has since gone viral, she wrote: "By no means felt so unwelcome within the trade I work in than sitting on the Scottish Soccer Writers Awards.
"An enormous reminder there's nonetheless a lot to do in making our sport an equal place #callitout #equalgame."
Dunkeld-born Barbour's desk stood up and left the room in protest at Copeland's speech, which was allegedly suffering from sexist and racist jibes.
Whereas her tweet didn't determine Copeland, others who had additionally been in attendance on the dinner - handing out awards to Scottish soccer's greatest performers within the final 12 months - got here ahead to determine him because the speaker.
Others additionally joined Barbour in standing up from their tables and leaving the room in disgust.
Journalist Gabriella Bennett, who co-chairs the Girls In Journalism advocacy group, was amongst them.
She informed BBC Lunchtime Stay: "Final evening was in all probability the sixth or seventh time I've attended this dinner.
"There are all the time off-colour jokes made by the audio system, and I'm utilizing off colored as a descriptive phrase, however what I imply is sexist or misogynistic.
“Final evening’s speech was actually next-level. I walked out after about 5 minutes of possibly a 20 minute speech, and inside these 5 minutes that was rammed with sexist jokes, and I noticed Eilidh Barbour and her desk stand as much as depart.
“It is usually price declaring that there have been a great deal of folks laughing at these jokes.
"We have been two tables in an unlimited room and many folks discovered it actually humorous.
"There's a lot of work we nonetheless must do in altering folks’s minds about what is appropriate.”
Invoice Copeland is marketed as an after-dinner speaker by means of a variety of expertise businesses.
One itemizing says that shoppers have "warmed to the distinctive model of Copeland humour".
No less than one company has eliminated Copeland from its web site as of Monday lunchtime.
In an announcement issued on Monday, the SFWA mentioned: "The Scottish Soccer Writers’ Affiliation apologises to anybody offended or upset by materials from certainly one of our after-dinner audio system finally evening’s annual awards dinner.
"We've got agreed unanimously that this may act as a catalyst to evaluate and enhance the format of our future occasions to make it an fulfilling and inspirational occasion for all."
Representatives for Copeland have been contacted for remark.
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