A World Cup commentator has issued a denial after being falsely accused of making a racist comment about Ciara during a live broadcast.
The popstar joined her NFL legend husband Russell Wilson at the USA’s 2-0 win against Australia at the World Cup in Seattle on Friday.
The 1, 2 Step songstress performed the ceremonial coin toss at Lumen Field ahead of her nation’s dominant performance against the Socceroos, which sealed their spot in the knockout round of the 2026 World Cup.
The hitmaker was later spotted watching the USA’s victory from a luxury VIP suite with the global broadcast capturing her behind the glass window.
Argentinian commentator Leandro Zapponi was accused of making an offensive remark about the singer during the moment she appeared on the broadcast.
Soccer fan account, Tendencias Futbol, shared a clip of the moment which appeared to show Zapponi, who was calling the game for D Sports, questioning who Ciara was.
Argentine commentator was forced to deny making an offensive comment about singer Ciara
Ciara attended the game at Lumen Field with her husband, former NFL star Russell Wilson
The singer was shown in a luxury suite on the broadcast during the USA’s victory
‘Who is this black woman?’ he appeared to say in Spanish, sparking outrage in response to the post on X.
However, it quickly emerged that the clip had been doctored with Zapponi taking to the social media platform himself to claim that it was AI-generated.
‘In the age of fake news, these people are only trying to cause harm and spread hate,’ he wrote, translated from Spanish.
‘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.’
The Daily Mail has also contacted Zapponi for further comment.
He then shared a snippet of the real transmission, which clearly did not feature the offensive remark.
In the clip shared by Zapponi, he actually remained silent while Ciara was on the screen, resuming his commentary once the camera panned back to the action on the field.
‘Ciara is the singer who performed the coin toss and therefore the television panned to her,’ his co-commentator Milena Gimon could be heard explaining to viewers back in Argentina as Australia took a throw-in in the 55th minute of the game.
The 1, 2 Step songstress performed the ceremonial coin toss ahead of the game
‘A big hug to everyone who knows Ciara,’ Zapponi could then be heard admitting. ‘To be honest, and speaking humbly, it was my mistake.’
‘Do you listen to opera?’ Gimom then asked, to which he jokingly responded, ‘I don’t listen to anything!’
However, despite his admission, at no point during the clip Zapponi shared did he refer to Ciara as a black woman.
Zapponi is a seasoned sports journalist in Argentina, having called professional games since 2009.
He has served as a play-by-play commentator for DirecTV since 2014 and for Turner since 2017.
Ciara’s husband, Wilson, could also be seen alongside her in the VIP suite during the broadcast as they headlined the celebrities in attendance.
Wilson recently retired from the NFL in order to pursue a career as an analyst but was welcomed back to the city of his greatest achievements on Friday afternoon, even if the thousands of fans in attendance swapped football for soccer as their No. 1 sport.
The popstar is pictured on the pitch ahead of the USA’s game against Australia on Friday
Paris Hilton was at the game – she was also in the stands in Los Angeles for the host nation’s 4-1 win over Paraguay last Friday.
USA women’s soccer star Trinity Rodman was there too and added to the excitement by carrying out the match ball before things kicked off in front of a packed out stadium.
Fellow female soccer stars Alex Morgan and Jill Ellis were also shown watching the game from a VIP suite, joined by former USA goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
Donald Trump’s administration was represented too. After Marco Rubio was at the first game, Secretary of Health RFK Jr. was in the stands for the second game.
