Al Ain forward Ryan Babel has become embroiled in a sexism storm on social media site Twitter after responding to a female with a series of derogatory remarks.
After quoting a tweet referring to Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez, who he played for at Liverpool, and his apparent negative tactics, Babel did not take kindly to a comment from a Twitter user who he perceived as an “internet troll”.
However, the Dutch forward’s attack has been widely criticised after focusing his ire on the fact the user was a woman.
Among the comments made by Babel, he told the user: “Ur a girl ... Stay in ur lane.”
In a series of tweets that quickly followed, Babel wrote: “At least let your brother or your boyfriend make the comment then we can argue.
“Not gonna argue with a lil girl, with all the respect. C’mon now.
“I’m not saying I can’t be a football fan as a girl or a woman. Of course you can. I’m just saying that ‘I’ am not gonna argue with u about football ...!!!”
After receiving cricitism from fellow Twitter users, including one that wrote: “This is how I read it: Women CAN be football fans, but they CAN’T have a voice in football”, Babel reiterated his point by replying: “It’s very simple ... I personally not gonna argue with a girl about football. U don’t have to make it bigger than it is.”
At present, there has been no official word from Al Ain on the incident, which has now become international news.
Babel signed for the Arabian Gulf League champions from Turkish club Kasimpasa in the summer and scored his first goal for his new side on Friday night in the Arabian Gulf Cup draw against rivals Al Jazira.
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