The 70 year old commentator was heard saying ‘I wanted to watch a bit of racing this afternoon. I’ll be lucky to watch some f****** Match of the Day’.
This incident has sparked outrage at the commentator who spoke while unknowingly being live on air. IMG media managing director Graham Fry said John Virgo has been spoken to regarding the incident and he will continue to work during the course of the tournament.
As John Virgo gets in trouble over swearing live on TV, he has come out and said he is highly embarrassed and apologetic for his comments. He thought his mic was off but unfortunately it was still on.
John Virgo has had a long career in snooker spanning from the 70’s onward where he competed in professional snooker before co-hosting TV productions such as the BBC’s pot black show and commentating on the BBC’s coverage of snooker until present. But this is not the first time John Virgo gets in trouble over the years.
Social media went crazy yesterday after the incident which sparked further debate on the commentator.
People on social media such as Facebook and Twitter have said Virgo has been disrespectful to the players as he said ‘one player seems to drag the other player down’ etc.
It will be interesting to see how BBC handles the incident going forward into the next tournaments and if they renew their contract with John Virgo particularly after the ten year deal world snooker struck with Eurosport where Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White are regular commentators.
With most of the BBC snooker commentators ageing, BBC doesn’t really seem to be bringing new younger commentators it would seem. This issue where John Virgo gets in trouble might see BBC reveal their long term plan with coverage of the snooker.
