Women’s group lambasts ‘sexist’ football team video

Pogo, the Akel-affiliated women’s organisation, on Monday lambasted a Cypriot football team over the release of what they said was a “sexist” promotion video which “shames female dignity and insults women”.

In a written statement, the organisation said it had communicated their concerns about the video promoting Pafos FC in a letter to the gender equality commissioner.

The video, which was released on the Paphos football team’s social media, opens with a shot of crashing waves at the beach, and the slogan “the hottest part of the season is coming….”

The next scenes of the minute long video show a female photographer taking photos of two other women, who wearing football T-shirts paired with skimpy shorts and a small swimsuit posing at the beach next to a blue-white car reading ‘PAFOS F.C. FAN SHOP’ on the side.

The video continues to show the women taking photos at what appears to be the Stelios Kyriakides football stadium, before it closes with the announcement of the team’s next match.

“If there was a sexism league, Pafos FC’s film would be playing in the Champions League,” Pogo said.

The organisation explained that even though the video was created to promote the team products of the team, it instead promotes the “commercialisation of the female body” while its “hypersexualisation” provokes feelings of anger and indignation.

“Such actions unfortunately confirm that nothing can be taken for granted, no matter how ‘trite’ it may be, even though it is already 2022,” they added.