[Saba Sports News] France beat Senegal 3-1 in their opening World Cup match the other day. However, BBC aired incorrect photos of France’s starting players during the live broadcast. When presenting France’s starting lineup, BBC mixed up two out of the four defensive players. The name of right-back Jules Koundé popped up on screen, yet the accompanying photo belonged to Ibrahima Konaté, who was not even named in the matchday squad. Next to that was the correct picture of Dayot Upamecano. William Saliba partnered the Bayern Munich centre-back from the start, but the Arsenal star’s photo never appeared on screen; instead, Upamecano’s image was shown twice. Finally, Theo Hernández’s correct photo closed out the four-man defensive lineup graphic. Sources confirmed the mix-up was a human error. In a statement released after the incident, BBC said: “We apologise for this mistake.”
The editor believes that the graphic sparked a huge stir on social media, with many viewers criticising the blunder. As a flagship media organisation, the BBC’s trivial error is truly embarrassing.