BBC face Ofcom probe over Christian Eriksen TV coverage
Monday 14th June 2021
The BBC are set to face an Ofcome investigation after a number of complaints over the broadcaster's coverage of Denmark captain Christian Eriksen after he collapsed.
The Beeb issued an apology for broadcasting distressing scenes of the Dane after he collapsed on the pitch in the country's Euro 2020 opener against Finland.
The live coverage, which is filmed by Uefa and used by broadcasters, focused on the player lying prone on the floor and also panned to his visibly upset partner Sabrina Kvist Jensen as she ran to the pitch when the medics rushed to Eriksen's aid.
Following complaints, which included a very public outburst from BBC pundit and former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright, who called for the broadcaster to "cut to the studio" as the incident unfolded, Ofcom is poised to investigate what happened.
Ofcom's probe will be to decipher whether the coverage breached the broadcasting rules covering "distress and violation of human dignity". The rules stipulate that broadcasters must provide "adequate protection for members of the public from harmful material".
The BBC said: "We apologise to anyone who was upset by the images broadcast.
"In stadium coverage is controlled by Uefa as the host broadcaster, and as soon as the match was suspended, we took our coverage off air as quickly as possible."
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