The offensive remarks were reportedly made during a match on Friday in Taipei. PHOTO/WIKICOMMONS
A Taiwanese broadcaster has been lambasted for making racially-charged remarks about a Myanmar football squad during a game in Taipei on Friday.
The reporter, who has not been named but works for live-streaming service Freedom Sports, is alleged to have made the comments during an Asian Football Confederation under-23 qualifier.
Among her observations, according to the Taipei Times, was this: “Myanmar, we are not sure what kind of country that is… It seems like their players train by running on grass pastures all day long and digging up yams to eat.”
Then, after Myanmar took the lead after 29 minutes, she reportedly said: “They just scored a goal, finished by No. 6. What is his name? That is not very important.”
Number 6, 18-year-old Hlaing Bo Bo, went on to score again in the second half, and Myanmar won 3-0.
Local media heavily criticised the broadcaster and some netizens reportedly threatened to report her to the Asian Football Confederation. One soccer fan even set up a ‘Say No to Racism’ website in response to the event,
The woman in question was reported to have apologised after the game, saying she did not understand the sport.
But Freedom Sports, which is not an official broadcaster for the qualifiers, took a more confrontational view. In other words, it doesn’t care.
In an initial statement, they insisted the comments were said in jest, adding: “ We will still use the same set of broadcasters for upcoming matches – if fans do not like it, then people can do the live-streaming reports themselves.”
On Monday afternoon, the company came to its senses and issued a proper apology: “Due to inappropriate commentary during the Taiwan versus Myanmar match, which upset some fans, we would like to apologize to all our fans.”
In this case, it might be too little, too late.
