Soccer

BBC criticised for failing to cut away from Eriksen incident sooner

‘His partner came onto the pitch and I don’t know why they had the cameras on her’

Denmark players escort their teammate Christian Eriksen as he is stretchered off the pitch in Copenhagen. Photograph: Friedemann Vogel/EPA

Mon Jun 14 2021 - 10:53

Leader of the UK's Labour party, Keir Starmer has criticised the BBC for failing to cut away sooner from footage of medics desperately trying to stabilise Danish player Christian Eriksen.

Eriksen collapsed on Saturday during the first half of Denmark's opening Euro 2020 match against Finland.

Speaking on LBC, the leader of the opposition in the UK said: “I watched this live and it was awful.”

He continued: “There are those rare occasions where you know it’s serious from the start — the players’ expressions who are on the pitch, the fans’ expression - it becomes very sombre very, very quickly.

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“I really feared the worst. I thought I was watching something no football fan ever, ever wants to watch.

“I thought they could have cut away sooner and I think his partner came onto the pitch at one point and I don’t know why they had the cameras on her at all.”

He added: “They could have cut early, they should have cut out and I don’t think they, they certainly shouldn’t have shown his partner, I mean how distressing that?”

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