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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Mark McDougall

Sky Sports issue grovelling Celtic, Rangers and Alfredo Morelos apology over controversial interview

Sky Sports have issued an apology to Alfredo Morelos as well as both Celtic and Rangers following Translategate.

The broadcaster had published an interview with the Colombian but it was translated incorrectly and astonishingly included accusations Morelos didn't make.

The 23-year-old had said he was the victim of racism but the translation claimed he singled out Celtic supporters as the perpetrators.

Now Sky Sports have admitted they got it wrong and vowed to review their procedures for future interviews.

They've also published a new transcript of the interview that corrects their initial mistakes, after Record Sport translated the interview yesterday.

They said: "We have identified inaccuracies in the translation of Sky Sports News' interview with Alfredo Morelos. We apologise to both Celtic and Rangers football clubs as well as Alfredo Morelos for the issues caused by these errors.

(SNS Group)

"After numerous steps undertaken by Sky to verify the interview thoroughly we can be clear that at no point did Morelos allege that any racial abuse was directed at him by Celtic supporters in the interview. We apologise to the supporters of Celtic Football Club for this serious error.

"We are reviewing our procedures for translated interviews to ensure this does not occur in future.

"Below is the full transcript of the video published on Sky Sports with a professionally verified translation. A full subtitled video will be published here later."

Celtic had issued a complaint to the broadcaster after the interview was published and it was pulled from all their media platforms.

It reads: "Celtic Football Club has today asked Sky Sports to conduct an investigation into an interview broadcast yesterday, which accused Celtic supporters of racist behaviour.

"Translations provided to Celtic Football Club have shown inconsistencies between the words spoken during the interview broadcast and the subtitles used by Sky Sports.

"In particular, and most concerning, while the broadcaster used the following subtitle on screen: 'Afterwards it was very frustrating to hear the crowd screaming at me. They were saying offensive and racist words’.

"Mr Morelos does not use these words anywhere within the extended interview which has been broadcast across Sky’s platforms.

"Celtic FC has asked Sky Sports to clarify their position on this matter.

"Celtic, a club open to all since its inception, abhors racism. Our consistent stance is that wherever racism exists it should be tackled head on. Celtic will always investigate any report of racist behaviour and take appropriate action. This is a standard which all clubs should meet. 

"Celtic needs no encouragement to pursue racism, particularly as players and management at the club have suffered abuse persistently over the years. The seriousness of such cases has been confirmed with the prosecution and criminal convictions of some of the perpetrators.

"Celtic is proud of the wonderful reputation earned by its supporters over many years in many countries and at home. The club owes it to them to act in a responsible, dignified and professional manner and to treat racism with the seriousness it deserves."

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