Piers Morgan hits back at talkSPORT host Shebahn Aherne for comments about Megan Rapinoe

Piers Morgan has hit out at talkSPORT’s Shebahn Aherne after defending Megan Rapinoe’s view on trans athletes.

Before the Women’s World Cup began, Rapinoe was asked whether she would accept a trans footballer in the United States football team in which she replied she ‘absolutely’ would.

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Rapinoe has advocated for trans athletes to be involved in sportCredit: Getty

But she has been met with criticism, particularly from TalkTV’s Morgan, who insisted that having players who were born male play against females is unfair.

talkSPORT presenter Aherne joined Piers Morgan Uncensored to defend Rapinoe while blasting Morgan in the process for being ‘obsessed’ with Rapinoe.

Aherne felt it was a positive that players like Rapinoe want to make everyone feel included.

She said: “The abuse that Megan Rapinoe gets from her own USA fans off the back of her activism and the support she has of the trans community and LGBTQ community, it is actually refreshing to sit here and go everybody should get behind female athletes.

“Football is a place for everyone. I was reading through Piers Morgan’s tweets and was thinking, ‘what is your obsession?’

“Why does Piers hate Megan Rapinoe so much? Why do so many people have an issue with that? I have no idea.”

But Morgan was having none of it, tweeting in response: “Staggering, and dismaying, to hear a women’s sport presenter defend Megan Rapinoe’s delusional insistence that trans women have no advantage against females in women’s sport,” Morgan tweeted in response.

“Here’s an idea Shebahn – stop whacking me for stating the truth, and ask the poor women having to compete against biological males.”

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Morgan has been critical of Rapinoe in the pastCredit: Getty

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While talkSPORT’s Aherne blasted Morgan’s ‘obsession’

There has been plenty of conversation over the inclusion of trans athletes across multiple sports.

Rapinoe had said earlier in the summer: “It’s particularly frustrating when women’s sports is weaponized.

“Oh, now we care about fairness? Now we care about women’s sports?

“That’s total bulls***. And show me all the trans people who are nefariously taking advantage of being trans in sports. It’s just not happening.”

Morgan, though, saw an unlikely ally in tennis star Nick Kyrgios when commenting on a 2019 video of Rapinoe’s interaction with a young fan.

The video, which went viral at the time for Rapinoe’s body language towards the child, resurfaced leading to Morgan calling it ‘diabolical’ and Kyrgios joking: ‘One thing me and Piers agree on!’

The United States crashed out of the Women’s World Cup on Sunday with a dramatic defeat to Sweden on penalties in the last-16.

Rapinoe missed her penalty in what was her last action as an international player having already announced her retirement.

Lina Hurtig’s winning penalty was initially saved by Alyssa Naeher only for the ball to bobble over the line, crossing it by the slimmest of margins to confirm the Americans’ exit.

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