Chelsea star Sam Kerr praised by Simon Jordan for dealing with ‘nitwit’ pitch invader – but Emma Hayes’ calls for more protection of players echoed by ex-Crystal Palace chief

Simon Jordan has praised the way Chelsea forward Sam Kerr dealt with a pitch invader on Wednesday but, alongside her boss Emma Hayes, called for more protection for female players. 

A man entered the field in an apparent attempt to take selfies with some of the Chelsea and Juventus players, before Kerr emphatically shoulder barged him to the floor. 

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There were cheers from the crowd after the incident, before they booed the referee for subsequently booking Kerr for her involvement. 

Jordan congratulated the Australian for embarrassing the ‘nitwit’ but insists that referees need to protect players in those situations, rather than giving them a yellow card. 

“Was it right for her to get herself involved? It put her in the way of jeopardy because we don’t know what these herberts are running on the pitch with and what they could have done to her. 

“Obviously, he’s a man, he’s going to be physically stronger. If he had turned around and clonked her, she could have got hurt and we don’t obviously want that. 

“On a sort of human level, I say well done to her, little nitwit running on the pitch, good for you to do it. 

“Obviously the tragedy and travesty is that she gets booked for it because, really and truly, what the game should be doing is trying to protect the players as much as they can from situations that involve fans breaking onto the field of play.” 

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Hayes agrees with Jordan and wants everyone to ‘put player protection first’. 

She said: “I don’t know why he didn’t just wait till the end – he could have had a photograph if he really wanted one! 

“But, jokes aside, you do have to think about player safety. I think we’ve seen in the growth of the game, there is this sense that the players are more in demand. 

“So, I think it should serve as a reminder to us all, our stadiums, and our stewards, we’ve got to put  player protection first.”