THIS AD, TWEETED by TG4 Sport at the weekend has generated its fair share of chat and controversy this week.

The image, which shows a female GAA player holding a football as if it was a pregnancy bump, divided opinion and raised questions about  its positivity as an endorsement of the ladies game.

However, the ad was never supposed to see the light of day.

A spokesperson for the Ladies Gaelic Football Association toldDailyEdge.ie that the ad was one of several options put forward by an advertising agency in 2008/2009.

We have a really excellent relationship with TG4. It would be standard when they are producing new ads that they would show them to us.

Not all options make the cut. These were images that would appear in match programmes etc and this particular image was one of the ones that didn’t make the cut.

Somehow, the spokesperson said, the ad made its way onto social media six years later as part of the promotion of two ladies matches coming up this weekend:

The ad remains on the TG4 Sport twitter account, as well as on the main TG4 account, which retweeted Dublin player Sinead Finnegan.

Finnegan told DailyEdge.ie:

Being pregnant and playing football are obviously two very different things. Speaking from a player’s perspective, you put so much blood, sweat and tears into training for the year, it can nearly feel like the  most important 9 months of your life!

 The ad might not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s based on a really good insight, you do put so much in, so it can feel as important.

“It’s certainly not any kind of stunt”

Asked why the ad wasn’t removed the Ladies GFA spokesperson said:

It is out there. It was never meant to be seen by the public but there’s no point in hiding from it now. It has generated a huge amount of discussion around ladies’ football and womens’ sports.

We would hope that the extra focus around the game will translate into focus on the field.

DailyEdge.iehas asked TG4 for comment.

Written by Emer McLysaght and originally published on DailyEdge.ie

TG4′s new Ladies football ad has split opinion and provoked a ‘sexism’ debate

‘I’m not equipped for mindreading!’ – Westmeath minor boss bites back