A MAN. A TV set. A beer and a soccer game to watch. Normally, that would be one very happy scene. But lately, something has happened to disrupt this boys-own bliss - women sports presenters have invaded the pitch.

The result has been an outcry from male fans who reckon women have no place hosting shows about soccer and other sports.

They're not complaining about the presenters' pretty faces and honed bodies, mind you, though some fans - both men and women - tell LifeStyle that they reckon the eye-candy factor is played up and trivialises sports.

No, lads are in a lather because they think the women lack the technical knowledge and in-depth understanding of sports.

However, the women who, since last year, have been appearing here as sports show co-hosts on cable TV sports channel Star Sports, are hitting back.

As Erin Ade, 23, host of a weekly international tennis show on Star Sports called ACE, puts it: 'If you don't like what I am doing, then don't watch the show.'

The issue kicked off in a Straight Talk column written by Jeremy Au Yong in Life! on April 16 in which he questioned the infiltration of female presenters into sports shows.

He mentioned that 'the likes of Jamie Yeo, Paula Malai Ali and Charlie Webster don't appear to be given any roles that require deep insight or analysis. Rather, they helm variety programmes or co-host football shows - where it just seems their sole purpose is to be eye-candy.'

Former radio deejay Jamie Yeo, Channel V veejay Paula Malai Ali from Malaysia, English model Charlie Webster, American journalist Erin Ade and Filipino celebrity Drinie Aguilar are seen in programmes such as Club EPL, Nokia Football Crazy and Caltex Score Today on Star Sports. The shows are produced here and broadcast throughout Asia.

After the column came the letters. Vimalan Sivasubramaniam, a 33-year-old lawyer, wrote that most viewers 'wish to get cold, hard analysis and predictions on the matches from credible commentators... not glamorous ex-DJs, veejays, models or celebrities.''

Nigel Accha, 24, said: 'I wonder if they really know what they're talking about.'

So do these girls know enough not to confuse Cristiano Ronaldo with Brazil's Ronaldo?

LifeStyle asked former national soccer coach Goh Tat Chuan, 32, who says: 'To be a good commentator, you need to have a good knowledge of the game, and that comes with hands-on experience after playing the game at the highest level.

'Putting female presenters on is superficial unless they have done that before and have good knowledge of the game.'

He adds: 'What troubles me most is when the girls try to talk and act as if they know the game really, really well and then try hard to say something intelligent, but it's always out of context. I cringe whenever they do that.'

But it turns out some of these pretty faces do have quite a sporting background (see other stories). Webster, for example, became a professional track athlete at the age of 13.

Another gripe is the intent behind using the women. 'If they're just put there for their looks, I don't think it has achieved its desired effect. Who do the producers want to attract? Non-soccer fans?' asks P.N. Sivaji, technical director of the Football Association of Singapore.

ESPN Star Sports, which runs both the Star Sports (Ch 24) and ESPN (Ch 23) channels, could not provide viewership figures, saying only that it has received 'extremely encouraging response and results' since the women appeared last June.

Mark Richmond, who has been doing soccer commentary here since 1988 for the local TV station, says he supports having female presenters as long as they know their stuff, but says Star portrays them more as sex sirens than presenters.

Huw Bevan, ESPN Star Sports's senior vice-president for productions, replies: 'Saying they're on the programme only because they're good-looking is like saying someone is in the NBA (National Basketball Association) only because he is tall. Their attractiveness is only a part of the reason they were hired. More importantly, they must have the talent and screen personality to inform, entertain and engage viewers.'

He stresses the girls don't give expert analysis but facilitate discussions between viewers and experts. They are hosts, not pundits.

But Sivasubramaniam says that then, the girls do not add value to the show.

Perhaps the men are just feeling unhappy about women stepping into their territory.

Former coach Goh says: 'Soccer is still a male-dominated game. It definitely makes more sense, and is easier, for a guy to relate to it with another man.'

However, some female fans are unhappy, too. Life! Mailbag on April 21 had a letter from Aileene Chew saying she 'thinks the use of these hot babes is an insult to men. Do the folks at ESPN really think the men tune in more for the babes and not the football?'

But Ivy Singh-Lim, the former Asian Netball Federation president, thinks it should be a level playing field for all, noting: 'There are many games which are female-dominated, but team managers or commentators are men and the women don't complain.'

frankiec@sph.com.sg

Additional reporting by Teo Cheng Wee

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 29, 2007.