Turkey’s TRT state broadcaster has removed a veteran commentator from its 2026 World Cup team after he confused Iran and New Zealand for about four minutes during a live match.
During the opening minutes of the Group G game, the commentator described attacks by Iran as New Zealand moves and New Zealand’s attacks as Iran’s. Viewers noticed the mistake and shared clips of the broadcast on social media.
Turkish media identified the commentator as Murat Ekrem Çimen. TRT did not name him in its statement.
TRT apologized to viewers Tuesday and described the error as “unacceptable” under its broadcasting standards.
The broadcaster said it had opened an administrative probe. Çimen was withdrawn from TRT’s World Cup team in the US and will not commentate on the rest of the tournament while the review is underway.
TRT said the mistake was especially unacceptable because the commentator had more than 30 years of experience in sports broadcasting.
The mix-up occurred during Iran’s opening World Cup match against New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California. New Zealand took the lead twice, but Iran responded each time as the teams finished in a 2-2 draw.
TRT, Turkey’s publicly funded national broadcaster, has the country’s television rights for the tournament, which is being hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.