Jamie Carragher suspended by Sky for rest of football season

The Sky Sports football pundit Jamie Carragher has been suspended by the broadcaster until the end of the season after spitting in the direction of a 14-year-old girl following a verbal exchange with the teenager’s father over Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United.

A Sky Sports spokesman said: “Following an internal review, Sky has suspended Jamie Carragher for the remainder of the football season.

“Jamie has taken full responsibility for what has happened and we will ensure he gets the help he needs to guarantee something like this never happens again. Before the start of the next season we will sit down with Jamie to discuss whether he is ready to return to his role.”

Carragher, who has since apologised to the family of the girl and who accepted his behaviour was “unacceptable”, described the incident as a “moment of madness” and said his “biggest regret was that a young girl was caught up in the middle of the altercation”.

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On Monday the 40-year-old, whose daughter Mia is around the same age as the girl caught up in the incident, told Sky News: “I would find it hard to know what I would say or how I would react if it happened to my daughter. I’ve made mistakes in my 25-year career, but this is the worst one.”

The Danish broadcaster TV3 has also dropped Carragher from its coverage of the Champions League match between Manchester United and Sevilla on Tuesday evening. Peter Nørrelund, head of sport at TV3 Sport, said a decision had not yet been made about Carragher’s long-term future.

Guardian services