The Moroccan national team has been compared to monkeys on Danish television.
It has now led to an apology from TV 2, which states there was no racist intent.
– I’m really sorry, announcer Christian Hugh Andersen says in a statement.
Morocco lost the bronze medal game to Croatia, but the team’s strong cohesion – both within the squad and with families on site – was noticed and celebrated during the FIFA World Cup.
Among the many scenes that were leaked from the tournament was that of midfielder Sofiane Boufal, who was dancing with her mother on the field after the quarter-final victory over Portugal.
Monkeys image held
When Morocco’s cohesion was to be described on Danish TV, TV 2 chose an approach that was criticized.
When the studio spoke on “News & Co” about the players holding hands and hugging their mothers after matches, a photo was hung.
The image depicted three monkeys hugging each other, which led to TV2 being accused of racism both in Denmark and abroad.
Al-Boodle TV channel
The uproar has now caused TV 2 to issue an apology to viewers and Morocco in both Danish and English.
“Unfortunately, the Moroccan national football team was talked about in a way that Tele2 apologized for.”writes the TV channel.
According to TV 2, it was an unfortunate attempt by presenter Christian Hugh Andersen to be lighthearted, and the channel wrote that they are aware the feature could be seen as racist.
– I’m really sorry I made such a bad comparison. It was never my intention, but it was wrong and offensive at the same time, and I want to apologize for that, says Hugh Andersen.