Odisha FC Kicks Out Head Coach Stuart Baxter For Rape Comment

Bhubaneswar: A day after he triggered a furore with his distasteful remarks, Stuart Baxter was removed as the head coach of Odisha FC on Tuesday.

“Odisha FC has decided to terminate Head Coach Stuart Baxter’s contract with immediate effect. The interim coach for the remainder of the season will be announced soon,” the club said in a release.

On Monday, Baxter had sparked an outrage with his comment that one of his players “got to rape someone” or “get raped” in order to be awarded a penalty by the officials.

The Englishman said this in the post-match interview after his side went down 1-0 to Jamshedpur FC in the Indian Super League.

Notably, Odisha FC made a late penalty claim when Diego Mauricio was tripped in the area by TP Rehenesh, but the referee turned down the appeal.

The club later issued an apology for the coach’s comment. “The club is appalled at the comments made by Head Coach, Stuart Baxter during the post-match interview today. It is completely unacceptable whatever the context and does not reflect the values of the club. We, at Odisha FC, unreservedly apologize and the club management will handle this matter internally,” Odisha FC had tweeted on Monday evening.

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