Huntly Football Club’s women’s team player left ‘inconsolable’ by body shaming incident as Scottish Women’s Football League punish Christie Park club for walking off in protest in cup match against Rossvale Development
A body shaming incident directed at a female football player led to her team walking off in protest.
Now Huntly FC’s women’s team have been kicked out of a cup competition and fined for standing up to the abuse which left the victim “inconsolable”.
Club chairman Gordon Carter has spoken out against the Scottish Women’s Football League’s decision to penalise his club £100 for their decision to “make a stand against such unacceptable abuse”.
He highlighted the trigger incident which took place in an SWFL cup match in Bishopbriggs against Rossvale Development FC on Sunday, November 17.
“During the latter stages of the first half, one of our players was subjected to body shaming remarks from a Rossvale player,” Carter said.
“Our player was visibly very upset to have been on the receiving end of such abuse, she was inconsolable by the time the teams got into the changing room for half time.
“Her team-mates were very upset and angry to have witnessed the body shaming incident and that nothing had been done about it.
“They made an unanimous decision not to continue with the game as a powerful show of support and solidarity, prioritising the well-being of the abused player and taking a stance against such unacceptable conduct.”
Carter said the decision was given to the match officials and the game was abandoned
He added that the incident was reported to the SWFL in an effort to ensure that action was taken by the authorities in line with the alleged abuse incident,and there has yet to be an outcome to their complaint.
The incident was reported to the relevant authorities (SWFL) to ensure that appropriate action is taken. We await the outcome of the complaint we made to the SWFL.
Carter added: “Despite the fact that the complaint is still under consideration, the league management committee of the SWFL has taken the decision to award the match to Rossvale and fined our club £100 for ‘abandoning the game’.
“Whilst we accept the tie being awarded to our opponents, however we will be submitting an appeal against the £100 fine. we feel aggrieved that the LMC have taken this course of action prior to the governing body concluding its investigation of our complaint.
“The victim of the abuse and her team-mates are being punished here for taking a collective decision to make a stand against such unacceptable abuse. As a club we stand proudly by the strength of character to take such a decision in the absence at that point in the game of any punishment being administered to the perpetrator of the abuse.
“There is no room for body shaming or indeed any form of discrimination in football and we will continue to advocate for respect and inclusivity in our sport.
“As a club we offer our full support to the player subjected to the abuse and the entire team during this very difficult and challenging time.
“We thank our supporters and the wider football community for the understanding and solidarity in dealing with this matter.”
