Sports presenter's wife accuses Sky of being 'offside' on sexism

Julia Keys used the soccer metaphor to defend her husband, who resigned on Wednesday in response to growing pressure over sexist remarks he and sacked pundit Andy Gray made about a female assistant referee.

Sky Sports dropped Keys and Gray after they were recorded off air agreeing that women did not know the offside rule and predicting that official Sian Massey would make a big mistake during a Premier League match.

Speaking outside the couple's mansion home in Chobham, Surrey, Mrs Keys said: "It's really sad. They (Keys and Gray) contributed so much, putting Sky on the map.

"Whether you like them personally or not, professionally there's very few who would knock them. I feel the wrong two guys were given the red card.

"It doesn't quite make sense in a way and it's questionable the way it has been handled. I think Sky was offside in the way it handled it.

"It's very sad after the career Richard has had that it has come to this but I do not see it as being the end of it."

Keys resigned after a video clip appeared on the internet, showing him making derogatory remarks about a former girlfriend of ex-England footballer and Sky Sports panellist Jamie Redknapp.

Gray, who reportedly earned 1.7m a year, was sacked the day before, after another clip showed him making inappropriate comments to a female presenter, Charlotte Jackson.

Asked how she felt about the comments, Mrs Keys said: "With men there are little bits of you that never grow up.

"It's banter from the boys. What other people do not understand is the dynamics that go on in the studio.

"He (Keys) is very aware of the tensions that there are and it not being as relaxed as it would be unless there were playful shenanigans."

BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch, who was involved in the decision to sack Gray, said the sexist comments were "against everything Sky Sports stands for".

"At Sky we have a very clear idea of the culture we are trying to create in the workplace, like fairness and respect," he said.

"In my view it was completely unacceptable and we won't stand for it. It doesn't matter where you are in the organisation if you are so far over the line there will be action."

Keys said: "I am deeply sorry for my remarks and the offence they have caused; it was wrong and should not have happened.

"I have thought long and hard and reached the decision that it is time to move on. Going forward without Andy would have been almost impossible. I am and will remain proud of our work with football at Sky Sports and grateful to the many people who have worked with me. I wish Sky Sports continued success in the future."

Only hours before his resignation, Keys gave a radio interview in which he claimed that "dark forces" were at work in the scandal.

He admitted the comments were "prehistoric" and revealed he had apologised to Ms Massey last weekend on behalf of himself and Gray, but he was not allowed to publicise the fact the apology had been made and accepted.

"I was told no," he said, "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."

Gray said that football was his life and he was "devastated by losing the job that I love".

"I am very sorry that certain comments made by me have caused offence," he said in a statement.

"Such comments were made off-air to work colleagues, and were, of course, never intended to be broadcast."