Crickter Chris Gayle has already endured a lot of criticism over inappropriate remarks to a Channel 10 journalist Mel McLaughlin. But, bigger than this news, during the 2015 World Cup he exposed his genital to a woman during Sydney training session. The Australian woman, who was working around the West Indies team in Sydney, has revealed the incident to Fairfax Media. In the course of her work she entered the team dressing room to get a sandwich as she hadn’t eaten all day, thinking the players were on the field training.
Instead, she found Gayle in the room with one other player. Gayle was wrapped in a towel, which according to her pulled down to partially exposes his genitals to her while saying to her: “Are you looking this?”
It was learnt that West Indies team manager Richie Richardson was told about the incident, but Gayle was not named. Richardson then sent an email to all West indies players asking them to treat women working around them should be treated with respect.
The revelation has come in the wake of Melbourne Renegades imposed $10,000 fine on Chris Gayle for his sexist comment during an on-air interview with Channel Ten’s Mel McLaughlin on Monday night. Gayle asked an uncomfortable McLaughlin The new revelations came as the Melbourne Renegades announced they would fine Gayle $10,000 for his controversial live interview with Channel Ten’s Mel McLaughlin on Monday night. Gayle asked an uncomfortable McLaughlin if she wanted to come out for a drink with him, before quickly adding “don’t blush baby”.
On Tuesday morning, Gayle delivered a half-hearted apology and said his comments had been “ blown of proportion”. Renegades chief executive Stuart Coventry described his comments as a “one off”. Several other female journalists also came forward to detail inappropriate comments or unwelcome advances by Gayle.
The female employee involved in last years’ incident does not want to identified, but has exopalined she was motivated to tell her story “in support of [Channel Ten reporter] Mel McLaughlin last night, and to support the many other women working as career professionals in sport who shouldn’t have to put up with this kind of treatment”.
“It’s that moment when you have a split second to react. I was shocked, and I just walked out,” she said.”You put yourself in an office environment in Australia, and there’s no way that’s going to fly. Put yourself back in that deserted change room and it’s somehow OK for a career professional to be subjected to sexual jokes and demeaning advances.”
“You put yourself in an office environment in Australia, and there’s no way that’s going to fly. Put yourself back in that deserted change room and it’s somehow OK for a career professional to be subjected to sexual jokes and demeaning advances.”
The incident has hahpened in February last year when West indies were in Sydney preparing for the 2015 World Cup.
“He [Richardson] was 100 per cent supportive of me. I had his absolute apologies and support,” the woman said.
Approached by Fairfax Media at the SCG and asked about the allegations against Gayle from February, Richardson said, “At this point I have nothing to say about that or about what happened with Chris Gayle [in Hobart]”.
Gayle’s manger also refused to comment on the allegation. The woman says she felt sick when she watched Gayle proposition McLaughlin on air during Channel Ten’s coverage of the Big Bash league on Monday night.
Gayle went on to score 215 against Zimbabwe in Canberra.
“It makes me sick that people like that are emulated as heroes when they behave like that towards half the population, there is nothing heroic about the way he conducts himself towards women,” she said.
Gayle has been writing paid columns for Fairfax Media over the past month. Given the issues that have sparked controversy over the past 48 hours, that arrangement has been terminated.