Carragher suspended by Sky for spitting on 14-year old girl

Suspended Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher winced and issued a grovelling apology as he was forced to watch vile footage of him spitting at a 14-year-old girl.

Appearing on Sky News just moments after he was suspended, Carragher was made to watch the footage as he appeared in a excruciating interview live on the channel.

He winced and almost broke down as he was taken to task by interviewer Sarah Hewson during the TV spectacle, as he made a desperate bid to save his job and his reputation.

During the interview, he was even asked to comment on tweets posted by furious fans, ex-footballers and celebrities.

He described his actions as a “moment of madness”, adding: “I have no excuse and it’s devastating for the family involved and my own family.”

The £1m-a-year pundit spat at the teen and her dad while driving his Range Rover following Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.

He said: “I have no excuse. My biggest regret is for the 14-year-old girl to be caught in the middle of this, my altercation with the father.”

Asked if he deserves to keep his job, he replied: “There’s no doubt what I have done is disgusting, I’m getting vilified and rightly so.

“I would hope five seconds of madness will not take over everything of what I’ve done – I don’t feel like that’s a real representation of me.”

Carragher added he has not offered his resignation and the future of his role is “Sky’s decision”.

In a statement, Sky Sports said: “Sky takes this matter extremely seriously and strongly condemns Jamie’s actions, we have made that clear to him in person today and suspended him from his duties. It falls well below the standards we expect of our people.”

Danish TV station TV3 Sport has also confirmed Carragher will no longer analyse Manchester United’s Champions League clash with Sevilla for the station following the incident.

The former Liverpool defender had just watched his side lose 2-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford and says he was being goaded by the girl’s dad when he wound down his window and spat at the pair and drove off.

Video footage shows how the pair exchanged an initial wave, before the dad shouted: “Unlucky Jamie lad!” and “2-1!”

When the teasing continued Carragher spat — hitting the teenager who was in the passenger seat and leaving her in tears. Carragher yesterday said he had been “goaded.”

Police can bring assault charges over spitting — or prosecute as a public order offence.

Carragher has said previously in a football column that players spitting at each other is “vile”.

He wrote in 2015: “As usual, there have been a number of people who have said ‘it is the worst thing that can happen on a pitch.

“It is vile but let me assure you now I would have preferred Lucas Neill to have spat at me the day he broke my leg in September 2003.

“I was spat at once in my career. It came during a UEFA Cup game against Celta Vigo in 1998 and the player in question was a Russian midfielder called Aleksandr Mostovoi.

“I was shocked more than angry when he did it because I couldn’t believe what had happened.”

The dad yesterday denied abusing Carragher: “When we spotted him I was just shouting his name. I was not rude or offensive.

“He responded by spitting at my daughter.

“Carragher comes across on TV as a decent guy who likes a laugh.

Article courtesy of The Sun online