Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani has defended his club's decision to tweet out footage of Amazon Prime pundit Karen Carney's claim that the Whites won promotion 'because of Covid', dubbing the comment 'completely unnecessary and disrespectful'.
Former England international Carney was speaking after Leeds romped to a 5-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns which saw them end 2020 on a high and move up to 11th in the Premier League table.
"They outrun everyone and credit to them," Carney said following the match.
"My only concern would be is will they blow up at the end of the season? We saw that the last couple of seasons.
"I actually think they got promoted because of Covid in terms of it gave them a bit of respite. I don't know if they would have got up if they didn't have that break. "
As soon as the comments were aired on Amazon Prime they were questioned by Leeds fans, who were quick to point out that Leeds had won their previous five games before the March lockdown without conceding a goal. They would then go on to win the Championship when the action restarted, finishing ten points clear of the Baggies, who were their nearest rivals.
The club then tweeted out a clip of Carney's verdict along with the caption: “Promoted because of Covid. Won the league by 10 points. Hi @primevideosport".
While this is not the first time Leeds have tweeted out the opinions of their naysayers following a victory, this latest tweet brought about criticism with the club being accused of opening the door for Carney to be the target of Leeds fans' ire on social media.
Radrizzani addressed this charge directly on Twitter.
"I take the responsibility of the Club tweet," the Italian posted in reply to a message accusing the club of a 'disgusting' act of which they should be 'ashamed'.
Radrizzani continued: "I consider that comment completely unnecessary and disrespectful to our Club and particularly to the fantastic hard work of our players and coaches whom were understanding [sic] on the pitch for the last two championship seasons by all stats."
Leeds' tweet also brought about replies from former loan star Ben White, who played every minute of last season's Championship-winning campaign and posted three laughing emojis, plus from Mateusz Klich, who responded with a nauseated face emoji and a vomiting emoji.
