FA Admits Mistake in WSL 'Barbie' Gaffe

Barbie's post on England and Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps was published by the Women's Super League. Photo: Twitter

The Football Association admitted that it was a «mistake of judgment». Post on social media calling Women's Super League players «Barbie» as a marketing gimmick for the release of the trailer for the new Barbie; movie.

The posts were removed after some social media users disagreed with the Barbie reference, although some other fans seemed to like the concept.

England and Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr and this season's WSL top scorer, Jamaica and Manchester City striker Khadija Bunny. Shaw were among those referred to by WSL officials' post Wednesday morning. The WSL is run by the FA and the league's official account says «These Barbies are WSL icons!»

Earps' image read «This Barbie has kept 11 clean sheets this season», while Kerr's image was accompanied by the line «This Barbie scored her 50th goal in Barclays WSL this weekend». /p> Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr Photo: Twitter England goalkeeper and Manchester United Mary Earps Photo: Twitter

There was also a post about Tottenham Hotspur defender Keris Harrop saying, «This Barbie broke the record for most WSL Barclays appearances» after Harrop's record 178th WSL appearance last Sunday. Shaw's report simply said, «This Barbie is a Bunny,» referring to Shaw's nickname.

On Wednesday afternoon, an FA spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph: "It was a mistake of judgment, and it has been deleted"

Over the past 24 hours, it has been announced that in the new Barbie movie, Hollywood's Margot Robbie will play Barbie and Ryan Gosling will play the character Ken. The official trailer had over six million views by Wednesday evening.

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It was a misguided attempt to jump on the bandwagon of a popular social media topic and understandably caused irritation. many WSL fans, but it should also be said that the original purpose of the league's social media posts was quite well-intentioned.

The WSL, which draws an average of around 6,000 people, is constantly trying to attract more supporters to keep women's football growing, in which case their social media team seemed to be hoping to gain additional support by adding their account to the hot topic, especially since that WSL fans tend to be younger on average than fans of a men's soccer game.

For this reason, some fans consider the deletion of these social media posts to be like a storm in a teacup. WSL would be criticized more if it didn't make an effort to interact with different audiences.

Jamaica and Manchester City striker Khadija 'Rabbit' Shaw Credit: Twitter

However, this episode offended many because the stereotype of girls playing with dolls and boys playing football is something the sport is desperately trying to shake off in order to change society.

For this reason, it was a rather careless mistake.

WSL players have long been trying to be a role model for young people and show that girls can also play sports in order to inspire millions who are not feel represented in society.

Another aspect that has disappointed sources at some WSL clubs is that they all try to encourage fans of all ages to attend matches, believing their data shows that everyone more and more teens and adults want WSL memberships, and that WSL games should not be seen as just an activity for families and kids.