Summarised by Centrist
A veteran Turkish football commentator has been removed from World Cup coverage after repeatedly confusing Iran and New Zealand during their opening group match.
Turkish state broadcaster TRT said Murat Ekrem Çimen mistakenly attributed Iran’s attacks to New Zealand and New Zealand’s attacks to Iran during the opening minutes of the live broadcast.
TRT called the error “unacceptable” and withdrew Çimen from its World Cup commentary team pending an investigation.
“We apologise to our viewers and the public for this error,” the broadcaster said.
“It is unacceptable for TRT that someone with over 30 years of experience in sports broadcasting would make such a mistake.”
The match itself ended in a 2-2 draw.
Elijah Just twice put New Zealand ahead, only for Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebi to equalise for Iran.
Iran’s difficult tournament arrangements also drew criticism from coach Amir Ghalenoei, who said his players had been forced to fly between their training base in Mexico and matches in the United States.
“Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup,” he said.
For Çimen, however, there will be no chance to get the teams right next time.
