Zlatan Ibrahimovic stirs up gender row with controversial comments on women's football

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a knack for grabbing headlines. The Paris Saint-Germain striker has done it again with his comments about women’s football opening a can of worms.

Ibrahimovic spoke out after the Swedish FA was widely criticized for gifting midfielder Anders Svensson a new Volvo for breaking Thomas Ravelli‘s record of 143 international caps while women’s midfielder Therese Sjogran failed to get similar recognition at the same football gala despite earning a record 187 caps.

In an interview with leading Swedish newspaper Expressen, the Sweden captain said that the men’s football team deserve to get more recognition than their female counterparts in Sweden and people should stop whipping up a gender storm about it.

“With all respect for what the ladies have done, and they’ve done it fantastically well, you can’t compare men’s and women’s football. Give it up, it’s not even funny,” Ibrahimovic said.

“When I come out in Europe they compare me to (Lionel) Messi and (Cristiano) Ronaldo. When I come home they compare me to a female player. With all respect for the ladies, they should be rewarded in relation to what they generate (financially).

“I was asked (by Swedish media) in the summer who was the better player, me or (Sweden striker) Lotta Schelin. You’re joking with me, right? When I’ve broken all these records, this goal record, the goals in the national team, who shall I compare it to? Shall I compare it to whoever has the record, or the ladies?”

The comments are sure to grab eyeballs and generate quite a buzz in the media. But then, that’s just what Zlatan does.