MANCHESTER CITY said today that the racist and misogynistic abuse directed at their forward Khadija Shaw at the weekend was to blame for her absence at Thursday’s League Cup semi-final victory over Arsenal.

City head coach Gareth Taylor said Shaw had been affected by the social media abuse.

“When you are affected by things like that it’s really, really difficult,” he told Sky Sports after Thursday’s match. “I’ve not really had time to have a good conversation with her about it, but she knows and she needs to know that the whole team and the whole club are behind her on this.”

Jamaica international Shaw, one of the top women’s football players in the world, was targeted after a Women’s Super League game on Sunday against Arsenal, which City described as “disgusting treatment.” City did not expand on the content of the messages but said they had been forwarded to authorities, as reported in the Morning Star.

In 2023, Fifa said one in five players at the Women’s World Cup that year received “targeted discriminatory, abusive or threatening messaging.”

Almost half of “detected and verified” abusive messages from that tournament were homophobic, sexual and sexist, according to data from Fifa’s social media protection service.

And last year, a Kick It Out survey of almost 1,600 women fans also found that over half (52 per cent) had experienced sexist behaviour or language during a football matchday. The charity launched a campaign to combat sexism and misogyny in the game.

Misogyny and racism in football are still very much prevalent, with Kick It Out revealing a year on year increase in both the women’s and men’s game despite tougher punishments handed out to fans caught hurling racist, homophobic or sexist abuse.

However there’s clearly much more to do, with even pundits being exposed for their out-of-date-attittudes.

Alan Brazil was the latest to be branded a “dinosaur” following dismissive comments on women’s football on Thursday.

He stated live on air: “Women’s football is getting more important now but when you talk about Manchester United, this is the men’s we’re talking about. [Women’s football] isn’t a priority [compared with the men’s] … people around them are not bothered. It is true. They’re not. Within the bigger picture, they’re not.”

Co-host Shebahn Aherne fired back: “That’s unbelievable from you. You’re the one with the granddaughter playing football, listen to yourself. Right now that’s important.”