Хөлбөмбөгийн томоохон тэмцээнүүдийн үеэр телевизийн тайлбарлагч, шинжээчид олны өмнө үг хэлэхдээ урьд өмнөхөөс илүү болгоомжтой байх шаардлагатай болжээ.
Дэлхийн аваргын үеэр Германы шигшээ багийн тоглогч асан Бастиан Швайнштайгер Африк тивийн хөлбөмбөгийг тактикийн хувьд сул гэж тодорхойлсныхоо төлөө олны шүүмжлэлд өртсөн. Тэрээр өөрийн байр сууриа хамгаалж, хүмүүсийг бус зөвхөн хөлбөмбөгийн тоглолтын хэв маягийг л дүгнэсэн гэдгээ мэдэгдсэн юм. Иймэрхүү нөхцөл байдлаас зайлсхийхийн тулд телевизийн сувгууд нэвтрүүлгийн өмнөх бэлтгэл, сэдвийн сонголтод онцгой анхаарч, хуулийн болон ёс зүйн хэм хэмжээг баримталдаг байна.
Англи болон Ганын шигшээ багуудын тоглолтын өмнө Томас Партейтай гар барих эсэх асуудал анхаарал татсан юм. Тоглогч бэлгийн хүчирхийллийн хэрэгт шалгагдаж байгаатай холбогдуулан ВВС телевизийн баг хуулийн зөвлөхүүдтэйгээ зөвшилцөж, олон нийтэд хүргэх мэдээллийг маш нарийн боловсруулсан байв.
Түүнчлэн, хөлбөмбөгийн тайлбарлагчдын дунд өнгөт арьст тоглогчдыг зөвхөн бие бялдрын хүч чадлаар нь дүгнэх явдлыг халах сургалтууд идэвхтэй явагдаж байна. Шинжээч Клинтон Моррисон, Дэнни Хиггинботам нар хөлбөмбөгийн тайлбар нь улс төр, хувийн эмзэг асуудлаас ангид, зөвхөн тоглолтын дүн шинжилгээнд төвлөрөх ёстой гэдгийг онцолсон юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
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The countdown has finished, the cameras are rolling, microphones are live and millions have tuned in — now watch what you say.
Players on the pitch are under intense pressure at the World Cup, but it is also a test for the TV presenters, pundits and commentators who must choose their words more carefully than ever during live broadcasts watched by huge audiences.
Under scrutiny from social-media users, they also walk a tightrope in an increasingly politicised world when the spheres of global affairs and sport constantly intersect.
At their best, they can provide insight, context and levity to the action on the pitch during live games.
But they can also become the story, and not in a positive way — like former Germany and Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who described African football as “wild”, “unorthodox” and “perhaps not tactically driven” during a TV appearance.
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The 41-year-old, who made the comments on German broadcaster ARD’s coverage before Germany beat Ivory Coast 2-1 in their second group-stage match, was widely criticised.
He responded in a statement insisting he “was talking about football, not about people”, and that his words were “a football analysis. No more and no less. There’s no way I wanted to offend someone”.
So how do the professionals in front of and behind the cameras prepare to avoid unwanted controversy or serious consequences from ill-thought words?
There is often a clear strategy.
UK broadcaster the BBC had to be careful in its coverage of the pre-match handshake between England and Ghana players prior to their Group L match last Tuesday.
The question was how the English team would react when they encountered Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, who, until last summer, played for Premier League club Arsenal alongside opponents-on-the-day Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, and who, shortly after leaving the London side last summer, was charged with rape and sexual assault?
As it turned out, everyone shook hands with Partey — except defender Djed Spence, of Arsenal’s big local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who appeared to snub him as he walked past.
Partey was charged with five counts of rape and one of sexual assault in July 2025, and two further counts of rape this February. He denies any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to all charges before his trial in London, which is expected to take place next year.
His lawyer, Jenny Wiltshire of Hickman and Rose, has said in a statement that her client welcomes “the opportunity to finally clear his name”.
At half-time, BBC presenter Gabby Logan explained the reports that Spence had not shaken hands with Partey, and the background that the Ghanaian had been refused entry to Canada for their opening group match in Toronto against Panama, the charges against him, and that he denied them.
On X, some users applauded her for addressing the allegations. Others questioned why she raised the issue at all.
Partey and former Arsenal team-mate Declan Rice hug after Ghana’s draw with England (Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
The reality was that producers had agreed the issue needed to be acknowledged, and worked on a clear and legally safe way to do it without falling foul of British laws around prejudicing ongoing criminal proceedings.
“You normally have a production meeting beforehand with the presenter and the pundits when you talk about the running order and topics of discussion, perhaps allocating who will speak about which topics,” explains Emma Paton, a presenter on UK digital broadcaster Sky Sports and the new host of The Athletic FC Podcast.
“If there are any topics that have ongoing legal proceedings or other health warnings, we’d discuss that then, and make sure everyone is aware and can be mindful of them.
“In an instance when there’s a big ongoing legal case, you’d get clear instruction on what you can say, and that will be from the executive-producer level. I’d have thought the BBC presenter will have been given the precise wording to read when the coverage addressed the Thomas Partey situation.
“Of course, it’s also emphasised for pundits that those topics aren’t for discussion beyond the statement approved by the lawyers.”
Paton says more nuanced human topics, such as grief in the wake of France head coach Didier Deschamps flying home during the group phase when his mother died, can be handled in a sensitive manner.
“In that case, it might be that one of the pundits wants to speak about a similar experience and how they can relate to that — and that’d usually come up in the meeting,” she says.
When it comes to stereotyping, broadcasters such as Sky Sports, organisations including Kick It Out and the Premier League collaborate on webinars with commentators and pundits to discuss how to avoid it.
That was prompted by a 2020 study by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), effectively players’ trade union in the UK, which found “evident bias” in some broadcasts relating to the skin colour of players.
In 80 televised games analysed across four European leagues, including the Premier League, players with a lighter skin tone were praised more often for their intelligence and work ethic. Those with darker skin tones were “significantly” more likely to be “reduced to their physical characteristics or athletic ability”, such as their “pace and power”. The findings concluded that there was “bias from commentators”, and the PFA called it “a moment of reckoning for the industry”.
BT Sport, Amazon and Sky Sports reportedly responded by introducing training for staff.
“Lazy punditry often goes hand in hand with stereotyping,” says former Crystal Palace, Birmingham City and Republic of Ireland player Clinton Morrison, who works as a pundit for BBC Sport, Sky Sports and TalkSport.
“If a team is at the World Cup, playing at the highest level, they haven’t got there by being wild and disorganised.
“I won’t shy away from describing a player’s physical qualities, but I will always put it in the proper context of the game and how it’s helping their performance, rather than generalising.”
Clinton Morrison says lazy punditry goes hand in hand with stereotyping (Joe Maher/Getty Images for Sky Sports)
One of the safest ways to avoid a backlash is thorough preparation.
“You have to be so mindful of the language you use,” says BBC Newsround presenter Nina Blissett, who presented items about the England Women’s team as they won the 2025 European Championship.
“During the Euros, the news emerged about racist abuse Jess Carter had been receiving. It was a case of quickly understanding how much we know of the extent of what’s happened, whether the police are involved and then thinking how to explain it carefully and clearly — especially to a young audience at Newsround.”
That wariness over word usage is ever more prevalent.
“Sometimes it’s even being careful of cliches, or sayings — particularly military-themed ones, for example referring to the ball as like a grenade, which none of the players want,” says former Manchester United and Stoke City player Danny Higginbotham, who now works as a commentator and is covering this World Cup for U.S. broadcaster Fox Sports. “In this day and age, with conflicts so common around the world, you’re better off avoiding them.
“I try to do as much prep as possible. For the World Cup, I spoke to someone from every single nation. It took me two months to get the detail I wanted from people who knew about every team. I wanted to make sure I could speak about the players with insight. If you don’t know enough about players and you’re (working on), say, Curacao versus Ivory Coast, then you can see how it’s possible to end up drifting into generalising.
“Football fans are far more educated about the game now, and they can access a lot of stats at their fingertips, so you have to go further to add value and give them context. I probably go over the top in terms of my prep — I probably use maybe 20 per cent, or maximum 60 per cent, of the information I’ll collect.”
This World Cup has already featured the ongoing dynamic of the Iran national team’s involvement on American soil, amid the shaky ceasefire between the two countries, along with U.S. immigration officials refusing to allow Somali FIFA referee Omar Artan into the country.
Then, with the potential for U.S. President Donald Trump to attend games, including the final, politics is never far from the headlines.
“I’m not really a political person, so I just steer clear of things like that,” says Higginbotham. “A lot of it comes down to common sense. The way I look at it is to keep front and centre that I’m covering a football match and, for a lot of people, football is an escape and they don’t want politics and other stuff part of it.
“It’s different if you’re in the studio. In that respect, it’s often the presenter who will tackle things that might be contentious, and they’ll get guidance off-air on how to approach it.”
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Liam Tharme and Liam Twomey
When it comes to subjects such as politics, for Morrison, it is simple.
“I stay away from anything that could get you in trouble or trip myself up,” he says. “I’m there to talk about football, and I am the first to hold my hand up and admit I don’t necessarily know the exact ins and outs of other things, like politics. But I back myself to know everything I can about the game I’m covering, and I’ll always do my homework.”
That dialogue with production staff is vital.
“I remember doing a La Liga commentary and the fans in the stands had an anti-racism banner talking about how supporters both black and white are the same,” recalls ESPN and Sky Sports commentator Rob Palmer.
“My producer had flagged it beforehand and given some guidance over talking about the banner because, in Spanish, it featured the words ‘blanco y negro’. I was able to use the latter word and explain the context in Spanish, aware that it has a different and offensive meaning in English.
“But that came from a conversation with the producer, which helped to avoid any misunderstanding. My approach is to play things straight. If there’s any doubt, it’s just better to not discuss something.”
Sometimes, random events can happen on the pitch that demand a reaction, and that’s when Higginbotham relies on his research and sense of boundaries.
“I won’t go near any scandal linked to players,” he says. “I’m not there for anything like that. But if there’s something visible to all on the field — like a player bursts into tears after scoring a goal and we know he’s spoken about a bereavement, then we will talk about that.
“When Raul Jimenez scored for Mexico recently, we discussed how he’d had that horrific head injury which could have killed him, and he lost his dad earlier this year.
Jimenez celebrates scoring for Mexico (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“Or if a player has a celebration, like putting the ball up their shirt, then if it’s public knowledge you can talk about their partner being pregnant.”
The punditry that viewers often enjoy engaging with is when those in the studio are relaxed and laughing. But how do you get the right balance between humour, banter and responsibility on air?
“You want to be yourself and natural in your reactions,” says Paton. “People can spot it if you’re being inauthentic. The viral clips of pundits having a laugh are natural reactions — that’s why they are so popular. It’s a case of trusting yourself.”
Morrison knows individual pundits’ styles will always irk someone on special media.
When starting out in broadcasting, he was criticised for his south London accent, but says he found more experienced colleagues supportive.
“I’ve got good mentors,” he says. “I can pick up the phone and chat to Ian Wright, and Paul Merson has always been brilliant with me.
“From my first appearances on TV when I was quite nervous, he has been so supportive and helped me improve. Social media was pretty brutal about me in the early days and I could have thought, ‘Wow, do I really need this?’. There were comments like, ‘Why are we listening to this gangster?’, because of my accent.
“But I’ve never been in trouble in my life, and my accent is part of me. I can’t change it and pretend to have a posh voice. With me, what you see is what you get, and I was just more determined.”
Ultimately, staying on the right side of the line appears to also be about knowing your role, and not blurring the boundaries to fill dead air.
“If I am preparing to cover a game and a story breaks about a player, I won’t go near it,” says Higginbotham. “If the main commentator has to address it, so be it, but I’m not a journalist.
“I’m there to talk about why things happen in the game.”
