BBC’s apology over World Cup error and stance on sacking pundit | Football | Sport
The BBC is set to stick with an under-fire pundit after apologising for an “embarrassing” mistake at the World Cup. The scrutiny isn’t just on the players and managers in North America, but also on the broadcasters.
And it hasn’t been an ideal start to the tournament for BBC Sport, which was receiving criticism even before the opening match for opting to base most of its coverage at its Salford headquarters. In contrast, ITV has set up camp in New York, with a swanky Brooklyn studio that boasts a dramatic backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. There have been further issues with production after a glaring graphic error before France’s victory over Senegal. The graphic, which was supposed to show the faces of France’s starting line-up, used the wrong images of two members of their four-man defence.
Jules Kounde’s name was mistakenly paired with an image of Ibrahima Konate. Also, the picture of Dayot Upamecano was used twice – once correctly and once with William Saliba’s. After the error was branded “embarrassing” by some people on social media, a BBC spokesperson said: “We apologise for this mistake.”
There have also been complaints about pundits, particularly one, with some viewers calling for Olivier Giroud to be dropped. Social media users have accused the former Arsenal, Chelsea and France striker of being “disastrous”, “absolutely abysmal” and of putting viewers “to sleep.”
However, given the corporation’s treatment of other under-fire pundits, Giroud is likely to be kept on. A prime example concerns Phil Neville’s contributions during the 2014 World Cup.
He was retained for Match of the Day the following Premier League season despite a much-criticised performance on co-commentary for England’s tournament opener against Italy.
Mark Cole, the BBC’s head of football at the time, stuck by the former Manchester United and Everton star and revealed details of their discussions. Cole told The Independent: “He had a bad night at the office. He was really hurting that night when I spoke to him but he dusted himself down the next morning.”
However, the younger Neville brother’s punditry career didn’t go much further. ITV hasn’t been immune from criticism either, with the channel embroiled in a sexism row over the use of women’s football managerial legend Emma Hayes.
During hydration breaks midway through each half, Hayes has been deployed in a separate part of the studio with a chalkboard to offer tactical insight. Critics of the segment have claimed it looks like Hayes is broadcasting from a kitchen.
