BT Sport football presenter reveals shocking misogynistic abuse she received on Twitter – Daily Mail

A female BT Sport presenter was subjected to a torrent of sexist abuse on Twitter after giving her opinion about a penalty which became a global talking point among football fans.

Lynsey Hipgrave was told to ‘stay in the kitchen’ and ‘shut up’ after labelling it ‘disrespectful’ of Barcelona star Lionel Messi to pass his spot-kick to a team-mate with the team already 3-1 up.

Luis Suarez ran onto the ball and scored, in a game Barcelona eventually ran out 6-1 winners in against Celta Vigo, but the rare move led to a fierce debate between millions of social media users. 

Lynsey Hipgrave was subjected to abuse on Twitter after labelling Lionel Messi’s penalty as ‘disrespectful’

Messi tees up the ball from the penalty spot for the on-rushing Suarez (right) on Sunday night

The BT Sport presenter was soon subjected to criticism from online trolls who claimed she should ‘stay in the kitchen’ and ‘shut up’ after posting her opinion of the penalty on Twitter (pictured)

Football presenter Hipgrave, who works for BT Sport and co-hosts a BBC 5 Live show with Danny Baker, took to Twitter to say Suarez should have taken the penalty on Sunday night.

It led to a torrent of abuse from Twitter users, including one who wrote: ‘We need sandwiches not opinions you s**g’. 

She wrote of the La Liga penalty against Celta Vigo: ‘Think that Messi pen is so disrespectful more I see it. Just let Suarez take the pen if you want to be such a good team mate.’

Hipgrave was soon subjected to hoards of criticism from online trolls who claimed she should ‘stay in the kitchen’ and ‘shut up’. 

One Twitter user wrote: ‘Haha honestly no one cares what you think cos you have a pair of t***’.

While another added: ‘And ladies and gentlemen, this is why we don’t hire any females unless we need our d**** sucked or our food cooked.’

The 36-year-old retweeted the worst of the abuse for her 27,000 Twitter followers to see before writing: ‘Just a very small taster of what we have to put up with. The crime was being a woman and expressing an opinion. Still a long way to go’. 

Examples of the abuse Hipgrave received on Twitter following her tweet about Messi’s penalty

Australian Comedian Adam Hills jumped to Hipgrave’s defence, writing: ‘I’m appalled at the abuse @lynseyhipgrave1 copped for tweeting an opinion about football. Amazed that people think like that.’

Hipgrave started her media career in radio where she presented the Breakfast Show for Manchester radio station Galaxy 102. 

She went on to present for the likes of English language sports channel Al Jazeera, Poker Night Live and Setanta Sport News before making a move to BT Sport in 2013 covering Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup games.

Hipgrave, pictured with Ian Wright, centre, and Peter Taylor, right, works as a presenter for BT Sport and co-hosts a BBC Radio 5 Live show with Danny Baker

The 36-year-old retweeted the worst of the abuse for her 27,000 Twitter followers before posting this message