No offence intended by ‘Misstiano Penaldo’, says BBC

The BBC have issued a statement over their use of 'Misstiano Penaldo' as caption during Portugal's match against Slovenia in the Euro 2024 broadcast, claiming there was "no offence intended" towards Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

The BBC had captioned Ronaldo's missed penalty in the extra-time of Portugal's Round of 16 clash against Slovenia in the Euro 2024 as 'Misstiano Penaldo' in its live broadcast.

Legions of Ronaldo fans and viewers in general were furious about the caption, accusing the BBC of using a derogatory remark to embarrass the player.

The BBC have issued a statement to address the fan backlash, claiming that it was just a play on words from their production team and there was no malice behind it.

"The caption was simply intended as a play on words, which we have done many times before on Match Of The Day analysis graphics. There was no offence intended toward Cristiano Ronaldo," the statement read.

"In fact, throughout the programme we spoke favourably about Ronaldo on a number of occasions, including:

"1. In the pre-match build-up when Jose Fonte highlighted Ronaldo's dedication to training, saying it's why 'he's one of the best ever.

"2. At half-time Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer did a long analysis run on Ronaldo's movement, praising it as "absolutely fantastic.

"3. After the penalty shoot-out, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer both referenced Ronaldo's courage and self-belief to step forward and take a penalty.

"At no point were the pundits overly critical of Ronaldo and in the context of the programme overall, the tone was consistently respectful towards him. However, we appreciate some viewers were unhappy with the graphic and the feedback has been passed on to the production team to help inform their work going forward."

Later in the match, Ronaldo converted from the spot in the penalty shootout and Portugal eventually progressed to the quarterfinal, where they lost to France.