The decision made by the BBC to permit Crystal Palace chairman Steven Parish to give an interview during the break of their FA Cup match against Millwall has been met with criticism from fans within the club.
During the halftime break of their FA Cup fifth round match at Selhurst Park on Saturday, Palace stood ahead of Millwall by a score of 2-1.
The first goal for Palace was scored by Japhet Tanganga (opening goal), and then Daniel Munoz added another goal to his team’s lead.
It was in the thirteenth minute of first-time stoppage time that Wes Harding was able to pull one back.
Following the violent collision that occurred between Jean-Philippe Mateta and Liam Roberts, who was consequently shown a red card as a result of a video assistant referee review, thirteen minutes were added to the first half.
Mateta was confronted by Roberts with a kick to the face after he was put through on goal.
During the time that Mateta was receiving medical attention, BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce condemned the chant that Millwall was using.
During the break, Palace chairman Parish gave an update on the French forward to BBC’s Kelly Somers. He stated that the French forward had undergone a ‘gash’ behind the ear and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
In doing so, he delivered a scathing evaluation of Roberts’ tackle, describing it as the “worst challenge” he has ever witnessed in his personal experience.
“We need to talk about that challenge… in all the time I’ve watched football, I’ve never seen a challenge like it,” he informed Somers of this. “That is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I’ve ever seen.”
The halftime interview that Parish gave on the BBC was, however, criticised by fans on social media, who voiced their disapproval of the segment.
An individual on X commented: “Terrible editorial choice by the BBC to have a crying Steve Parish interviewed at half time.”
The BBC has announced that Steve Parish will be appearing at halftime, according to a second tweet. Possibly not the most astute course of action. The question is, how many chairman get to complain about the other team while the game is going on?
A third person shared their opinion, saying, “Steve Parish should not be being interviewed here.”
“Someone explain to me why you deemed it okay for Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish to come live on TV and make claims that Roberts went out of his way to hurt Mateta!” exclaimed a fourth individual, who tagged the BBC in their tweet. It is imperative that you reorganise that, as it was completely out of order to allow that to take place!
