World Cup Commentator Denies Making Racist Comment About Ciara During USA v Australia

James is a Senior Editor for GIVEMESPORT with over eight years of experience in the industry.

After graduating from the University of Southampton in 2016 with a degree in history, he joined the company as an Academy member in July 2017 and, after a short time working as a freelancer, was given a full-time role in February 2018.

He primarily covers the biggest stories in the football world but is also comfortable reporting on a variety of other sports including darts, golf, Formula 1, tennis, boxing and athletics.

He has covered some massive events during his time at GIVEMESPORT, including numerous Champions League and World Cup finals, as well as the Olympics in 2020 and 2024.

A World Cup commentator has spoken out after he was accused of making a racist comment about American singer-songwriter and dancer Ciara during the match between the United States and Australia.

Ciara attended the match in Seattle on Friday alongside NFL legend husband Russell Wilson.

She performed the ceremonial coin toss at Seattle Stadium, before posing for pictures with match officials and both nation's captains, Tim Ream and Harry Souttar.

The 40-year-old then made her way to a luxury VIP suite where she watched her team win 2-0 courtesy of goals from Cameron Burgess (own goal) and Alex Freeman.

Argentinian commentator Leandro Zapponi has been accused of making a racist comment when the camera panned to Ciara watching on in the second half.

Zapponi, who was calling the game for D Sports, is alleged to have said in Spanish: "Who is this black woman?"

X user Tendencias Futbol made the claim and shared footage of the moment, which subsequently went viral and sparked outrage.

Zapponi has now defended himself, claiming that the clip being widely shared was AI-generated. He said:

"In the age of fake news, these people are only trying to cause harm and spread hate. AI-generated audios aren't even funny. It is sad that I have to clarify that I never said and never would say something like this."

He then shared a snippet of the real transmission. In the clip shared, he remained silent while Ciara was on the screen, resuming his commentary once the camera panned back to the action on the field.

When the camera moved off Ciara and panned back to the pitch, his co-commentator, Milena Gimon said, per the Daily Mail: "Ciara is the singer who performed the coin toss and therefore the television panned to her. A big hug to everyone who knows Ciara."

Zapponi then admitted: "To be honest, and speaking humbly, it was my mistake." Gimon then asked: "Do you listen to opera?" to which Zapponi responded: "I don't listen to anything!"

He didn't refer to Ciara as a black woman in the clip.

Ciara spoke out about her 'epic' experience at the Seatlle Stadium following the match. She wrote:

"These are the moments I'll never forget! Especially sharing them with my family @fifaworldcup in Seattle! This was Epic! USA."

In a post on her story, she wrote that being a Coca-Cola coin toss assistant was truly a 'magical experience' and thanked the soft drink company for making it happen.

United States have already clinched first place in Group D and can now turn their attention to the knockout stages. They will play their third and final group game on Thursday, June 25, when they take on already eliminated Turkey at Los Angeles Stadium.