ITV has been hit with accusations of sexism after Emma Hayes was made to deliver her tactical analysis of England’s 4-2 win over Croatia from what viewers described as a kitchen-style set, complete with a small blackboard and chalk while male co-pundits used digital technology elsewhere.
The setup, which featured kitchen units and overlooked Brooklyn Bridge, sparked an immediate backlash on social media and drew criticism from within the broadcasting industry. One TV insider described it as “hugely embarrassing” for ITV, questioning whether male pundits such as Gary Neville would ever be placed in a similar situation. “Can you imagine ITV putting Gary Neville on a set like that? No chance that would happen,” the source told the Daily Mail.
Former BBC football presenter Dan Walker added his voice to the criticism, saying: “I really like Emma Hayes and I think she’s an insightful pundit. I’m not sure why they have decided to make it look like she’s writing the specials on a bistro chalkboard.”
Viewers were equally unimpressed. “How lame are ITV that they put Emma Hayes in a kitchen setting to give her tactical analysis. Sexism rules,” wrote one. Another said: “This is woeful from ITV. Emma Hayes is brilliant, articulate and insightful, yet she’s made to provide micro analysis from some weird kitchen set-up with a chalkboard that isn’t even rectangular. It makes her look amateurish when she’s anything but. Imagine Neville doing that!!” A third added: “I’m not sure ITV are massively advancing the idea of women’s equality in football by having Emma Hayes give her analysis from a set which looks like she’s stuck in a kitchen.”
The backlash prompted a wave of memes in which AI was used to add sinks, washing up, tea towels and ironing boards to images of Hayes, or replace her tactical notes with shopping lists — imagery critics said underscored rather than mocked the original misjudgement by ITV.
The controversy is particularly striking given Hayes’s standing in the game. The US women’s national team manager won a record 15 trophies with Chelsea and has been widely praised as one of the standout pundits of this World Cup, with some fans arguing she has put the BBC’s coverage to shame with the quality and detail of her analysis.
The criticism of ITV’s production choices came on an otherwise triumphant night for England, who beat Croatia 4-2 at Dallas Stadium in their opening Group L match. Harry Kane scored twice, with Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford adding further goals to send 70,398 fans — and an estimated 16 million watching back home — into celebration. Bellingham, Kane and Jordan Pickford were all seen going into the stands to celebrate with partners and family at the final whistle, with WAGs including John Stones’ wife Olivia, Ollie Watkins’ partner Ellie and Bellingham’s girlfriend Ashlyn Castro having flown in from Miami where the players’ families are based during the tournament.
Back in the UK, employers were bracing for what attendance platform BrightHR described as “Hangover Thursday,” with sickness rates expected to double if patterns from Euro 2024 were repeated. An estimated 24 million pints of beer were drunk across the country during the match, with the British Beer and Pub Association predicting the game generated an extra five million pints for pubs alone. The £355 million economic boost from the match is believed to have produced Britain’s largest television audience in two years.
