Leeds condemn online abuse of Karen Carney triggered by ill-advised club tweet

Leeds United have 'condemned' the abuse received by pundit Karen Carney after the club's official Twitter account criticised her for doing her job.

Speaking on Amazon Prime prior to Leeds' 5-0 win over West Brom, the England centurion suggested that Marcelo Bielsa's side had benefitted from the coronavirus enforced break during their promotion winning campaign as it prevented the burnout they had seemingly suffered from the season before.

Leeds reposted the video, accompanied by a mocking caption, unleashing a tide of criticism and sexist abuse towards Carney.

Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani defended the tweet, but the club have since released a statement condemning the subsequent abuse that Carney has received.

"Leeds United completely condemns any abuse received by Karen Carney on social media following last night’s Premier League game with West Bromwich Albion," the statement read [via the Times].

“Everyone at our club respects Karen greatly for all she has achieved in the game, as well as her work in the media and the charity work she undertakes.”

Despite condemning the tweet, the club are yet to remove it. It has been retweeted over 11,000 times and has received over 5,000 comments.

"I take the responsibility of the club tweet," owner Radrizzani wrote on Tuesday evening. "I consider that comment completely unnecessary and disrespectful to our Club and particularly to the fantastic hard work of our players and coaches whom were understanding on the pitch for the last two Championship seasons by all stats."

The Tweet has been criticised by many in the sports media industry, including former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and the Women in Football group. However, Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich and ex-Leeds defender Ben White both expressed their dismay at Carney's comments via emoji form.

The Athletic report that Leeds have contacted Carney and invited her to the club's training ground to do a report for BBC Sport prior to their FA Cup third round clash with Crawley Town.