An American sports reporter has sparked international outrage after delivering a brutal on-air monologue ahead of the USA’s upcoming World Cup knockout match.
The backlash centers around ABC 7 Los Angeles reporter Abigail Velez, who went viral over the weekend for dismissive comments regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina.
While anchoring a preview of the USMNT’s Round of 32 clash against the European nation, Velez admitted that she had zero knowledge about the country’s opponents.
‘The next round, Team USA will play Bosnia and the thing about Bosnia is that I could not point out where it is on the map,’ Velez stated to viewers during the broadcast.
‘I don’t know the first thing about Bosnia and I don’t want to know. That’s because Team USA, we’re back and better than ever,’ she said during the segment.
‘Be prepared Bosnia, because you don’t want it like that,’ she ended her trash-talk monologue.
ABC 7 Los Angeles reporter Abigail Velez sparked fury after previewing the USA’s next game
Velez admitted that she had zero knowledge about the country’s next World Cup opponents
Almost immediately, the clip rapidly began spreading across social media and drawing major backlash from both Bosnian fans and domestic US sports fans.
One Bosnian fan wrote: ‘My goodness, the stereotypes write themselves’.
‘Imagine how vacuous she is. Imagine trying to have an intelligent conversation with her. Lucky for her she lives in a society that – broadly speaking – awards and normalises ignorance,’ another disgruntled fan wrote on X.
‘Some competitive talk is always fun, but that’s not the way to do it,’ another said.
Another wrote: ‘Why do Americans think being unintelligent/ignorant is funny?’
Even American supporters expressed deep embarrassment over the segment, apologizing to the European nation for the cringe-worthy display.
Neither ABC 7 Los Angeles nor Velez have issued a formal public statement or apology regarding the mounting controversy as the World Cup fixture approaches.
