ITV say the problem was related to the world broadcast
ITV Sport issued an apology after coverage of Saudi Arabia’s opening World Cup game with Argentina disappeared for a matter of seconds before kick-off.
After the broadcaster’s studio team had handed over to commentators Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon, pictures from the Lusail Stadium vanished as the camera swept along Saudi Arabia’s team during their national anthem, replaced – ironically – by a rainbow screen.
The coverage resumed shortly afterwards, with Matterface apologising for the temporary interruption in the broadcast. Despite it initially being claimed by some that the problem was only experienced on ITV, host Laura Woods confirmed at halftime that the issue had been on the world feed – and so was not the fault of ITV.
Despite the apology, Twitter was quickly awash with conspiracy theories as to why the footage disappeared at that precise moments, with some even suggesting it had been censored.
ITV just censored the Saudi national anthem and then took us straight to ads 💀💀💀
— AJ (@AhmadJarir7) November 22, 2022
Prior to the anthems, ITV had spent much of the buildup focusing on sportswashing, looking at Saudi Arabia’s relationship with football and then on Qatar’s.
Roy Keane was typically blunt when giving his opinions on the location of the World Cup, stating very clearly that he believed the tournament should be played elsewhere.
“The World Cup shouldn’t be here,” he said. “The corruption, the way they treat migrant workers, gay people. I think it’s great it’s been brought up. They shouldn’t have the World Cup here. You can’t treat people like that.”
Related links:
- World Cup 2022: Day Three – the latest from Qatar
- Japanese fans stun Qatar crowds by cleaning up World Cup stadium
- Harry Kane explains why he didn’t wear One Love armband in World Cup opener
