World Cup presenter forced to apologise after making 'inappropriate' comment live on-air

In the early hours of Thursday morning (2 July), USA are set to take on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32.

But when the Balkan nation were confirmed as the States’ knockout stage opponent in the World Cup, one journalist made a controversial comment.

Abigail Velez is a reporter for ABC7 in Los Angeles and went viral for her reaction to the fixture.

And quickly, she faced an influx of backlash and by yesterday, was forced to apologise for the ‘inappropriate comment’.

Appearing live on air, she confirmed the news that ‘team USA will play Bosnia’ and went on to boast: “And one thing about Bosnia, I could not point out where it is on a map.”

As she continued with her odd comments, a Bosnian Football account reshared it on X and wrote: “My goodness, the stereotypes write themselves.”

Velez had gone on to say: “I don’t know the first thing about Bosnia and I don’t want to know.

“That’s because Team USA we’re back, we’re better than ever. That’s next Wednesday – get prepared Bosnia because you don’t want it, you don’t want it like that. But you’re gonna get it.”

Plenty of Americans might be confident their team will defeat Bosnia but either way, Velez has been absolutely slammed for her comments about the country.

"How are you as a reporter flexing about your geographical illiteracy!?" one slammed as others asked on social media: “Why would she even admit this on live TV?”

Some questioned her ‘professional norms’ and ‘editorial standards’ as another joked: “Come on Bosnia! I hope you beat them. They've been so arrogant since they all discovered football last month.”

And following all of this, Velez has admitted that she went too far with her remarks.

“In a poor effort to have a little fun with World Cup competition, I took it too far and made a thoughtless comment on air that was insensitive and inappropriate,” the reporter shared.

“I apologise to the people of Bosnia and the Bosnian Football team. The World Cup is supposed to be about uniting communities around the world, and my comment didn’t reflect that spirit.

“Wishing all the teams the very best as they continue their World Cup journey.”

Users commented to say it wasn’t a ‘good look’ and that football ‘isn’t just about 90 minutes on the pitch’.

Some said that she was simply just having a bit of fun and that it’s fine to joke but that she should have been more ‘prepared for the World Cup’.