BBC Sport presenter Jason Mohammad apologised after comments made by Shay Given, the former Newcastle and Manchester City goalkeeper, on Saturday afternoon’s Final Score broadcast
BBC Sport present Jason Mohammad issued an on-air apology to Final Score viewers on Saturday afternoon after Shay Given branded Wilfred Nancy’s Celtic reign an ‘absolute Holocaust’.
Given, a regular pundit for the BBC, made the comments on the results show as Nancy’s brief stint at Celtic was discussed. “Nancy was terrible from start to finish, I don’t think they should have ended Martin’s [O’Neill’s] short tenure at the start,“ he said of the Frenchman, who was sacked after just 33 days by the Scottish giants.
“It was the week leading up to the Hearts game, top of the league clash, then Roma in the Europa League and St Mirren in the League Cup final, I thought Martin should have been given that week at least.
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“Nancy took over that week and had an absolute Holocaust in that week and it was just a nightmare from then on. The defeats and Rangers last weekend was the final straw, final nail in the coffin.“
As Given’s comments were picked up online, the show’s presenter, Mohammed, issued an apology towards the end of the broadcast, saying: “A little earlier you may have heard some inappropriate language so we would like to apologise for any offence caused.”
Given himself took to social media later in the evening to issue an apology of his own, saying he was “mortified” at the upset he had caused before saying he had donated his appearance fee for the show to the Holocaust Educational Trust.
He wrote: “On live television this afternoon, I used a word that I didn’t fully understand meaning of, and certainly won’t ever use again.
“We all have areas of ignorance in our knowledge, and I hope to use this as an opportunity to become better educated going forward.
“I am genuinely mortified and apologise unreservedly to everyone offended, and will be donating my fee from today’s show to the Holocaust Educational Trust.”
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