While Fox Sports has been condemned for what they’re not saying about the controversial FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar, one announcer may have said too much after inadvertently speaking on a hot mic.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar began on Sunday with Rob Stone, Eni Aluko, Clint Dempsey and Alexi Lalas hosting the opening ceremony for Fox Sports. Although they shamelessly chose not to comment on Qatar’s deplorable labor abuses and human rights violations, one announcer was heard commenting on an athlete’s teeth.
As the camera panned to Qatar soccer player Hassan Al-Haydos, silence on the Fox Sports broadcast was interrupted by a voice saying, “nice teeth.” The broadcast quickly attempted to move on from the hot mic moment with Stone saying, “we take you live inside the tunnel…” Stone proceeded to jumpstart a new conversation, prompting Lalas for insight on what might be going through a player’s mind, not their mouth, as they wait inside the World Cup tunnel.
I don’t want to speculate on the intent behind the “nice teeth” comment, but we can at least speculate on where it came from. The two biggest candidates for who may have said “nice teeth” would appear to be former American soccer players Dempsey and Lalas. But considering it was just two words, it’s hard to definitively determine the voice behind the comment.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com