Former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel has attempted to defend himself after making "sexist" comments on Twitter, and has claimed that he will now shut down his account in the wake of the criticism.
Babel, who plays for Al Ain FC in Abu Dhabi, angered Twitter users this weekend after making derogatory comments about women and football.
On Friday, he tweeted a female follower in response to a question asking him about his views on former manager Rafa Benitez: "I think you should concentrate on growing some t*** instead of speaking about football ... ur a girl ... stay in ur lane..."
Babel then posted a lengthy explanation of his actions, in a rambling string of more than 30 tweets.
The original tweet:
How Babel tried to defend himself
It started off like he had been living under a rock for the last few years, saying women "even" play football these days, writing: "woman nowadays even playing football... thats very cool and im very impressed.."
It then got worse, with Babel telling his followers that fans could never understand what it is like to be a footballer.
“So basically IF i am going to have a conversation about Football with a woman... TRUST me its not the same conversation...”
Many of his Twitter followers were quick to blast the player for his seemingly archaic views, including one sending him a picture of a shovel, telling him "he might need it".
Babel's meltdown continued, with the player tweeting that he was going to close his account, and posted a phone number for fans to use if they wanted to interact with him instead.
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