World Cup commentator swapped out at half-time for saying a banned name?
Created: 03/12/2022, 18:01
By: Alexander Kaindl
TV commentator Alper Bakircigil had to vacate his seat at half-time.
© Screenshot Twitter
The 2022 World Cup is over for Germany.
For a TV commentator from Turkey, too, apparently.
Presumably because he said a wrong name.
Doha – For the German national soccer team, the 2022 World Cup is over before it has really started.
The big games are only now coming as the knockout rounds begin.
The DFB stars have long since left Qatar after being eliminated again in the group stage of the World Cup.
World Cup 2022 |
November 20 - December 18 |
Qatar |
64 games |
32 teams |
World Cup 2022: TV commentator is not allowed to comment on the live game after halftime
A commentator who commented on Morocco's 2-1 win against Canada on Thursday (December 1) is apparently no longer there.
In contrast to his German colleague Julia Scharf, for whom the World Cup ended for other reasons, this retirement from the World Cup was completely involuntary - and even during the game!
What has happened there?
Turkish commentator Alper Bakircigil commented on the second-fastest goal of this World Cup: Hakim Ziyech scored for Morocco after four minutes.
The fastest goal of the World Cup, however, was scored by a player who was supposed to play for the opposing team that day: Alphonso Davies.
The Bayern star was successful against Croatia after just two minutes.
TV commentator exchanged at halftime: Because he said a forbidden name?
In this context, commentator Bakircigil explained to the Turkish broadcaster
TRT
that the fastest goal in the history of the 2002 World Cup fell in the match for third place, as reported by tz.de.
The goalscorer at the time was his compatriot Hakan Sükür.
He was a Turkish football idol around the turn of the millennium.
Sükür was almost deified at home for his achievements.
Bakircigil has now been fired for saying the former hero's name live on TV.
A possible explanation behind this: Sükür went into politics after his career as a footballer (he had the most successful time at Galatasaray Istanbul).
Between 2013 and 2016 he publicly rebelled against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP, for which he himself previously sat in parliament.
He was accused of being involved in the failed coup attempt.
The Turkish government even sees him as a "terrorist".
The only option left for Sükur was to flee to the USA.
Hakan Sükür: "I am not a traitor or a terrorist"
In the meantime, the former folk hero, UEFA Cup winner, third place in the World Cup and record goalscorer for the Turkish national team is said to have been a taxi driver in the United States.
In an interview with Die
Welt
, Sükür 2020 said: "Erdogan took everything from me.
My right to freedom, the right to explain myself, the right to express myself, the right to work.
I have tens of millions of dollars worth of property in Turkey.
I do not have anymore.
Nowhere in the world.” And further: “No one seems to be able to explain what my role in this coup should have been.
I have never done anything illegal, I am not a traitor or a terrorist.”
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Either way, commentator Bakircigil reportedly wrote on Twitter after the game: "Following today's incident, I was separated from the institution
TRT
, for which I was proud to work for many years.
Part of love is separation.
I hope we meet again.
Goodbye."
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Alper Bakircigil: Confusion about the supposed tweet
Supposedly because Bakircigil had denied on Instagram that he even had a Twitter account.
The original post can no longer be seen, and the account with Bakircigil's name has since been deleted.
There are also currently doubts as to whether the Turkish commentator was actually dismissed or, as Turkish media reports, only "warned".
Fact after this most strange story: After the break, the fans heard Cuneyt Kiran on the
TRT
microphone and no longer Alper Bakircigil.
Christoph Kramer is celebrated as an expert on German television.
But he didn't like a question from Katrin Müller-Hohenstein recently.
(acl)
