A reporter for ABC7 Los Angeles, Abigail Velez, apologized for a comment she made about Bosnia during a USMNT watch party in Long Beach, California. Velez was wrapping up her coverage of the USA’s loss to Turkey when she started trash talking the team’s next opponent, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Comment
Velez said, ‘The next round, Team USA will play Bosnia next Wednesday and one thing about Bosnia, I could not point out where it is on a map.’ She continued, ‘I don’t know the first thing about Bosnia and I don’t want to know because Team USA, we’re back, we’re better than ever.’ Her comments were seen as lighthearted and not meant to be taken seriously, but they still sparked backlash from some, including the Bosnian national soccer team.
The Bosnian team tweeted, ‘My goodness, the stereotypes write themselves……’ in response to Velez’s comment. Velez later apologized, stating, ‘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. I apologize to the people of Bosnia and the Bosnian Football team.’
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
