MEXICO CITY (AP) — Soccer star Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez is facing a backlash from Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and others for remarks posted on his social media accounts about gender roles.
“Chicharito is a very good soccer player,” Sheinbaum said at a press conference Wednesday. “But when it comes to his opinion on women… he still has a lot to learn.”
She described the former Mexico international’s ideas as “very sexist.”
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker, who currently plays for Chivas, is injured and missed the first two matches of the Apertura tournament.
Over the weekend, he posted several reels and videos, mainly on Instagram.
“Don’t be afraid to be women, to allow yourselves to be led by a man,” the 37-year-old Hernandez said. “Women, you are failing, you are eradicating masculinity, making society hypersensitive.”
Hernandez, the all-time leading scorer for the Mexican national team with 52 goals, returned to Mexico last year by signing a two-year deal with Chivas, the team where he began his professional career in 2006.
“You women need to learn to accept and honor masculinity,” he said in another one of his posts.
In another, he said to the camera: “You want a man to provide, but for you, cleaning is patriarchal oppression… interesting.”
Sheinbaum, a 63-year-old scientist, was elected last year as the first female president in the country’s 200-year history.
“I’m a mother, I’m a grandmother, I’m also a housewife,” the president added Wednesday. “But I’m also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Women can be whatever we want.”
Hernandez is a divorced father of two who has a habit of kneeling in the middle of the pitch to pray before the start of matches. He began creating content for a YouTube channel where he portrayed his life as a player with West Ham and his marriage.
Hernandez had a low profile on social media before hiring life coach Diego Dreyfus, to whom many attribute much of “Chicharito’s” new persona.
Criticism followed his recent statements, with some urging him to limit himself to soccer, given that his performance since returning to the Mexican league last year has not been as expected.
Hernandez, who also played for Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham and Sevilla, has scored just two goals in 25 matches in his first two tournaments back in Mexico.
Neither Chivas nor the Mexican Football Federation has yet commented.
The Federation’s code of ethics provides for sanctions for affiliated members for offensive or discriminatory statements, but so far, officials have not sanctioned anyone for misogynistic comments. Earlier this year businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the owner of the Mazatlán and Puebla clubs, made harsh statements about female journalists and was left unpunished.
Chicharito was banned from the national team since 2019 after he, alongside other players, organized a non-authorized party in New York after a match against the United States.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
