Broadcaster ITV has been slammed by furious fans for going “woke” after changing the Man of the Match award to ‘Player of the Match’ in men’s sports.
The Player of the Match phrase was used by both commentators and pundits over the weekend for ITV’s coverage of the FA Cup matches and Six Nations contests.
Tottenham star Harry Kane earned ITV’s Player of the Match accolade for his performance in Spurs’ 3-1 win over Brighton in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
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However, Spurs didn’t adopt the same approach as ITV and referred to the 28-year-old England striker as Man of the Match in a Twitter post.
The UK broadcaster’s decision to adopt Player of the Match instead of Man of the Match sparked backlash from sports fans on social media.
“Someone tell ITV it’s Man of the Match and not Player of the Match, FFS,” one Twitter user wrote.
Someone else angrily tweeted: “‘Player of the Match’ on ITV. Why can’t it still be Man of the Match? There are only men on the pitch, I'm sure it won’t offend anyone.”
While a third added: “So wokey ITV have decided to award Player of the Match, instead of Man of the Match. Even though it’s Spurs [vs] Brighton men’s teams?”
And a fourth posted: “Do they genuinely call it ‘Player of the Match’ these days?! Or is that an ITV thing?”
Jill Douglas accidentally called it Man of the Match instead of player during France and Italy’s Six Nations clash on Sunday, with the ITV presenter correcting herself.
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who is now a presenter for GB News, branded the adoption of Player of the Match as “absolutely ridiculous.”
SPORTbible has reached out to ITV for comment and will update this story should we hear back.
Adnan Riaz