David Moyes dismisses claims he should lose Sunderland job after threatening to slap female BBC reporter

David Moyes has defiantly dismissed claims that he should lose his job as Sunderland manager, despite widespread condemnation from politicians and domestic abuse charities, for threatening to slap a female reporter at the end of an interview.

Moyes is adamant he will not resign and The Daily Telegraph understands Sunderland do not want to sack the former Everton and Manchester United manager, despite widespread outrage following a sexist outburst, both from within and outside the game.

The criticism was led by former England captain Gary Lineker, the shadow sports minister and Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, as well as charities set up to help victims of domestic abuse and those looking to increase female involvement in football.

Khan branded Moyes’s behaviour “disgraceful” and called for the Football Association to punish him, while Lineker added it was unacceptable for a Premier League manager to behave as the Scot did.

The FA has already written to the 53-year-old, asking him to explain his comments, which is normally a prelude to an official charge.

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Moyes, who has a reputation for rebuking journalists when he does not like a line of questioning, can expect a hefty fine, although it seems he will cling on to his job and should avoid a stadium ban as the comments were made in a television interview.

After asking if he felt under more pressure because the club’s owner, Ellis Short had been watching a drab goalless draw with Burnley last month, Moyes menacingly turned on BBC journalist Vicki Sparks.

“It was getting a wee bit naughty at the end there so just watch yourself,” Moyes told Sparks, at the end of the interview, but with the cameras still recording. “You still might get a slap, even though you’re a woman. Careful the next time you come in.”

Moyes telephoned Sparks less than 48 hours later and she accepted an apology, even though her question was relevant given Sunderland were rooted to the bottom of the table and it was the first home game Short had attended since August.

Although shaken by the row, Sparks had not made a complaint and is said to be keen to move on. Instead, it was the BBC which accused Moyes of bullying its reporter. Although it has also accepted his apology, a video of the clash leaked into the public domain on Sunday night.

When challenged by newspaper journalists ahead of tonight’s trip Leicester City, Moyes said he “deeply regretted” his comments, claiming the outburst was in the “heat of the moment”.

He added: “There will be anger about this and I deeply regret what I’ve done. It was the heat of the moment. The business we’re in, sometimes you only have seconds to think and answer. So, you know, it was the wrong thing to do.

“I profoundly regret what I said. I have spoken to the girl, who I apologised to, and she accepted it. I rang her on the Monday morning, she was fine and accepted it.

“I spoke to [chief executive] Martin [Bain] immediately after it happened. I spoke to Ellis about it on the Monday morning as well. They were aware of it two weeks ago, but for some reason it has come out now.

“I don’t see it as being something which is in my character. It is something which is out of character. As I said, I’ve apologised to the girl… I’ve done what I needed to do.”

Asked whether he thought his job was under threat, Moyes replied “no” before adding that resigning “had never been under consideration”.

That has not prevented a torrent of criticism flowing in Sunderland’s direction, with some calling for the club to sack the manager who replaced Sam Allardyce last July to send out a strong message that women cannot be threatened or demeaned in this way.

Allin-Khan condemned Moyes’s conduct, adding on Twitter: “David Moyes cannot get away with these sexist threats – the @FA must take action immediately.”

Lineker, who is employed by the BBC, also took to Twitter to lambast him: “Moyes incident highlights a tendency for some managers to treat interviewers with utter disdain. Pressured job. Well rewarded. Inexcusable.”

Moyes has had a difficult season with Sunderland eight points adrift of safety, but has still been reassured by Short that he will be kept on as manager, even if he fails to keep them in the Premier League.

With some supporters starting to question why Moyes’s job is safe given poor results, this will only increase the pressure on him and the tone of the manager’s attack on a reporter “stunned” a domestic abuse charity based in the North East.

Clare Phillipson, director of the domestic abuse charity Wearside Women in Need, said: “I think the FA have to look into it. It is for the FA to set a clear standard about what they think is acceptable.

“It was dreadful, absolutely appalling. This is a woman, in a very small minority of sports journalists, trying to go about her job and being threatened.

“It’s the sort of thing you expect down the local pub, not the kind of thing you get from a professional football manager.”

A statement released by Women in Football, a network of professional women working in and around the football industry, read: “We are deeply disappointed and concerned by the threatening language used by Sunderland manager David Moyes towards BBC reporter, Vicki Sparks.

“No one should be made to feel threatened in the workplace for simply doing their job.”