Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys is considering resigning after his former colleague Andy Gray apologised for his role in the football sexism row and said he was “devastated by losing the job that I love”.
Keys claimed “dark forces” were at work behind the scenes and hinted he could be sacked over the furore.
The pair were dropped after they made sexist remarks about assistant referee Sian Massey before the Premier League game between Wolves and Liverpool at the weekend.
Sky Sports went on to fire former top striker Gray after new evidence of “unacceptable and offensive behaviour” emerged.
A statement released by Gray read: “I am very sorry that certain comments made by me have caused offence. Such comments were made off-air to work colleagues, and were, of course, never intended to be broadcast.”
His statement continued: “Football is my life and I am devastated by losing the job that I love. I am equally upset that third parties have been dragged into this issue. I ask that the media respect their privacy so that they can continue in their roles. I have worked for Sky Sports loyally for over 20 years and I do not wish to comment further at this time.”
His comments came as Keys also chose to apologise publicly for his remarks. Speaking on the TalkSPORT radio station, he said: “Our prehistoric banter is not acceptable in a modern world.” He added: “We were wrong. It was wrong. It shouldn’t have happened.”
He said he was shocked by the “firestorm” caused by his comments but said he understood if they led to him also losing his job. “Finding myself in the middle of something like this is most, most discomfiting for me.”
He said he made an official apology to Massey on behalf of himself and Gray on Sunday afternoon. “She and I enjoyed some banter together. We left on very good terms. I can’t tell you any more about the conversation beyond saying she was in good spirits and I expressed my disappointment that Andy and I, misguidedly having a little fun, had got it wrong. There is no excuse anywhere for anybody to make any judgment on someone else’s ability to do a job because they are male or female, it was wrong.”
He said that after apologising to Massey he had asked if he could publicise that his apology had been made and accepted. The presenter said: “I was told no, and 24 hours passed by which time the world had gone mad. Now, I don’t know why I was told no, I don’t know why I was stopped from telling people that that’s what I had done.”
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