Why is there no reaction from FA after incident at Arsenal Women’s Conti Cup final win?

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·3 April 2024

Why is there no reaction from FA after incident at Arsenal Women’s Conti Cup final win?

Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal Women went head to head with Emma Hayes Chelsea Women, on Sunday 31st March, at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton. The London rivals were competing in the Final of the FA Women’s Continental Cup 2024.

Arsenal Women were looking to win the Cup for a 2nd consecutive year, having beaten Chelsea to the silverware in 2023, and win for a record-extending 7th time. To say Arsenal Women’s season has not gone to plan is an understatement. Arsenal failed to get past Round 1 in this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League, were put out in the 5th round of the Women’s FA Cup by Manchester City, and have fallen off the pace in the WSL title race after recording 4 WSL losses (including their very recent humiliating 3-1 loss to the Blues). The Conti Cup was the only realistic piece of silverware the Gunners could get their hands on.

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Chelsea Women were equally determined, having beaten the Gunners 3-1 in the WSL only a couple of weeks previously. The Blues, in boss Emma Hayes’ final season with the club, before she moves stateside to manage the US Women’s National Team, were hungry to get the Quadruple in Emma’s final term – something which Arsenal Women are the only UK team to have achieved..

So the stakes were high, on both sides, I get that. Arsenal went on to win the match, in the 116th minute of play in extra-time, with Stina Blackstenius super strike. See match report:

Match Report: Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 to life Women’s Continental Cup trophy again!

Unfortunately, after the match, when the teams were shaking hands, Emma Hayes appeared to shove Jonas Eidevall, then call the Arsenal boss’ “male aggression” unacceptable in her post-match interview. The video of the incident has been trending all over twitter and, in light of Hayes upcoming move to manage the USWNT, American news are discussing the incident too. We discussed the issue in detail in the article below, with a huge response, thank you readers.

Imagine the furore if Eidevall had ‘shoved’ Hayes? And the Chelsea Women boss calls his behaviour “unacceptable”?

Scotland captain Rachel Corsie, who plays for Aston Villa, said the reaction to the scenes at the end of the game, when Chelsea were defeated by Arsenal 1-0, reflects the growing interest in the women’s game. I beg to differ..

“I think it was a case that there were heightened pressures.” said Corsie on the BBC’s Behind the Goals podcast.

“It’s drawn a lot of attention, which there probably is an element of it compounds the growth of the women’s game – more people talking about it.”

“We would love for more people to be talking about football-specific things,” added Corsie.

“Next week it’ll be something else. Everyone wants the best for the game.”

So, should we just talk about something else? Perhaps.. But I believe Emma Hayes behaviour warrants, at the very least, a statement from the FA or Chelsea football club. And an admittance of unacceptable behaviour, retracting her “male aggression” statement, for the sake of women’s football in this country.

Hayes had to make a full about-turn recently, admitting she was wrong to describe intrasquad player relationships as “inappropriate.”

“I didn’t think it was right for me to use the term ‘inappropriate’ for the players,” Hayes said, after upsetting some of her squad who are in intersquad relationships. The USWNT also have intersquad relationships. As per US News, Hayes regretted creating “clickbait headlines” and in that respect, she said, “I let myself down yesterday.”

I think she probably knows that she let herself down on Sunday too. Just my opinion.. And issuing a statement might be the right way to go, unless she expects this incident just to go away, as Corsie would appear to believe.

What are your thoughts Gooners?

Michelle M

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