Television shows receiving Ofcom complaints isn't a new phenomenon.
Often, broadcasts can get a vocal minority up in arms over any manner of things - be it offensive material, misleading information or something just isn't to their taste.
And sport broadcasts are no different.
New research from Essential Living, as part of their Sporting Superstars study, has found the most Ofcom reported sports moments on British TV.
The list is dominated by football coverage, while a broadcast of an F1 race that saw seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton take to the podium wearing a t-shirt highlighting the murder of Breonna Taylor received a number of complaints for being 'too political'.
However, there is one moment from the world of rugby that makes the list.
Last year's Six Nations clash between England and Wales at Twickenham saw Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones have his genitals grabbed by England prop Joe Marler.
The incident saw Marler subsequently banned for 10-weeks, with the Harlequins star later admitting his regret over the incident.
ITV's coverage of the incident received complaints, however, due to their pundits' reaction.
At half-time, openly gay former Wales captain Gareth Thomas said: “It would never have happened during my day and I’m really upset about that. If it had I would never have retired."
The 100-cap dual code star later apologised for his comments.
Here's the list in full:
1. Sky Sports Super Sunday: Manchester United vs Liverpool - 2nd May 2021
Reason for complaints: Coverage of protests by fans on the Old Trafford pitch, with many viewers disagreeing with the pundits’ comments on the situation, particularly with Graham Souness suggesting that Man Utd's fans were more upset due to a “lack of trophies”.
2. Channel 4: F1 Tuscan Grand Prix Coverage - 13th September 2020
Reasons for complaints: While many praised Lewis Hamilton as he took to the podium wearing a t-shirt highlighting the murder of Breonna Taylor, the move was greeted with some criticism for being ‘too political”, leading to 133 complaints to Ofcom.
3. ITV: Soccer Aid 2020 - 6th September 2020
Reason for complaints: Veteran commentator, Clive Tyldesley, was accused of fat-shaming two celebrity players, rapper Chunkz and comedian Tom Davis during the charity match. He described Tom as ‘big boned’ and made several weight-based jibes at Chunkz.
4. ITV: World Cup: England v Croatia - 11th July 2018
Reason for complaints: During the ITV 2018 World Cup coverage, Ian Wright apparently mocked how Roy Keane pronounced the word ‘final’, which led to some jibes being exchanged between the two ex-players. However, Ofcom ruled that the exchange was in ‘good humour’.
5. Sky Sports: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspurs- 4th October 2020
Reason for complaints: Graham Souness received a number of complaints for his comments about Spurs player, Erik Lamela. After Lamela came to blows with Man United player Anthony Martial, during the game, Sky Sports were forced to issue an apology for Souness’ comments. He claimed Lamela ‘overreacted and that this was due to his ‘Latin culture’.
6. ITV: Six Nations Rugby: England v Wales - 7th March 2020
Reason for complaints: England's Joe Marler grabbed Welsh captain, Alun Wyn Jones' genitals. Marler was subsequently hit with a 10 game ban for his actions, yet ITV’s coverage of the game drew 56 complaints as viewers felt the commentators made light of the situation.
Wales' captain certainly wasn't amused by what had happened on the pitch.
7. BT Sport: Chelsea vs Manchester City - 25th June 2020
Reason for complaints: Chelsea and Manchester City met in a game that would ultimately cement Liverpool’s Premier League title as Pep Guardiola's team lost 2-1. Whilst the London-based clubs’ fans wanted to revel in their team's win, BT Sport decided to instead air celebrations from Liverpool as they were crowned the season’s champions.
8. Sky Sports: Friday Night Football - Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspurs - 19th June 2020
Reasons for complaints: Roy Keane's comments, directed at Manchester United stars David de Gea and Harry Maguire, were criticised after he said would be ‘swinging punches’ at them if he were on the pitch.
9. ITV: Euro 2016 France v Romania - 10th June 2016
Reason for complaints: Former West Ham boss Slaven Bilic accidentally swore during the coverage of France's Euro 2016 clash with Romania. At 8.58 pm, his sweary slip-up came just before the watershed. While many took to social media in hysterics at his language, not everyone was so impressed.
10. Sky Sports: Premier League: Manchester City v Manchester United - 7th December 2019
Reason for complaints: Gary Neville divided viewers with his commentary during the Manchester derby in 2019. While speaking about the topic of racism in sport, he shared his opinion that the government fuel the issue. While thousands took to Twitter to support Neiville's comments, some didn’t agree as much, leading to him receiving some Ofcom complaints.
