Richard Keys has aimed yet another dig at Sky Sports’ decision to keep Jamie Carragher on air after joking that it’s ‘OK to spit on teenagers’.
Keys and former colleague Andy Gray left their roles with Sky after a series of sexist conversations were picked up and leaked in January 2011 when they thought their microphones were off.
But Carragher, after serving a period away from British television screens having been caught on camera spitting out of his car window at another driver, was welcomed back by the broadcasters shortly after the controversy in 2018.
Both Keys and Gray left the UK and are now the face of Premier League coverage across the Middle East and North Africa with beIN Sports while Carragher has remained as one of Sky’s main pundits.
Now, Keys has taken aim at the decision and claimed that there’s ‘no comparison’ over which is worse out of the two incidents.
Richard Keys (left) took aim at Sky Sports’ decision to keep Jamie Carragher as a pundit
Back in 2018, the former Liverpool star was suspended from his punditry role for five months
Carragher was caught on video spitting at a car containing a man and a 14-year-old girl
Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, Keys said: ‘If it’s OK to spit on teenagers and continue to be employed then great. For me that was far more a serious offence – but I’m not making the judgement on that!
‘I was pleased he didn’t [get sacked] as it gave me the opportunity to say to you guys, when you consider what happened to us, for the ‘crimes’ we were accused of (and accept) and what he did on film… there’s no comparison’.
Gray then intervened to add: ‘But he got given a second chance and no one objects to that!’.
In 2011, Keys and Gray left their roles at Sky when a back catalogue of sexist remarks were revealed after the furore that followed remarks about match official Sian Massey-Ellis.
He later claimed Massey-Ellis referred to those comments as ‘banter’ and says he is in regular contact with the 34-year-old.
‘Somebody better get down there and explain offside to her,’ Keys had said prior to the Premier League match between Wolves and Liverpool.
Gray replied: ‘Can you believe that? A female linesman. That’s exactly why I was saying; women don’t know the offside rule.’
Keys then added: ‘Of course they don’t……urrghhh. The game’s gone mad.’
Meanwhile, Keys asked Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp if he ‘smashed it’ when talking about a former girlfriend and said ‘you’d have gone round there any night and found Redknapp hanging out the back of it.’
Whereas, back in March 2018, Carragher was suspended by employers Sky Sports after the former Liverpool defender was filmed spitting through his car window at a man who had been goading him. The spit hit the man’s 14-year-old daughter, who was in the passenger seat.
The man had taunted Carragher about Manchester United’s victory over Liverpool having spotted the Sky analyst driving along the same road in his Range Rover.
In 2011, Keys and former colleague Andy Gray (left) left their roles at Sky when a catalogue of sexist remarks were revealed
Keys claimed ‘there’s no comparison’ between their ‘crimes’ and that which Carragher faced
A devastated Carragher went on Sky News, ITV and BBC to offer his fulsome apologies calling it ‘a four or five-second moment of madness which is difficult to explain. It feels like an out of body thing… I have brought shame on the name of Sky Sports.’
Keys and Carragher have previously clashed, on social media, after the former Sky Sports presenter accused Carragher of being a ‘borderline racist’ for thinking the England national team should always be managed by an Englishman.
Back in 2022, after England‘s elimination from the World Cup at the hands of France, Gareth Southgate was considering his future in the dugout.
Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Brendan Rodgers have been touted as potential replacements if Southgate walks away, but Carragher insisted that none of the trio should even be considered due to their nationality.
‘The England manager should always be English!’ Carragher tweeted.
The ex-Liverpool defender’s statement caused a stir on social media, and Keys lashed out at Carragher for his comments.
‘What sort of nonsense is this? It borders on racism,’ Keys responded.
They previously clashed when Carragher said the manager of the England team should always be English, before Keys claimed the view on the matter ‘borders on racism’
Carragher hit back, hinting that Keys was just bitter about losing his job as a Sky presenter
‘The England coach should be the best person available. England should not hide behind closed borders & minds.’
Carragher was not willing to take Keys’ criticism lying down, and labelled the 65-year-old a ‘sad, desperate man’.
‘“It borders on racism”. I hope you send similar tweets to a lot of journalists who have the same opinion, or is it because I work for Sky!’ he replied.
‘You are a sad desperate man.’