Sky Sports forced to apologise over Ukraine gaffe during live coverage of PDC World darts
SKY SPORTS were forced into a grovelling apology after an embarrassing gaffe at the PDC World Darts Championship.
That’s by showing Ukraine’s flag UPSIDE DOWN.
Sky Sports had to apologise after showing Vladyslav Omelchenko’s Ukraine flag upside downRex
Sky Sports displayed the flag on a graphic
Vladyslav Omelchenko made history on Sunday as he became the first player from the war-torn country to compete at the WDC.
The world No211 took three legs during his 3-0 defeat to Luke Woodhouse in front of a raucous Ally Pally crowd.
But Sky Sports made a glaring gaffe when promoting the darts match the day before.
Showing the players’ national flags next to their names on a preview of yesterday’s action, the blue-and-yellow of Omelchenko’s Ukraine was distressingly displayed upside down.
It prompted blasts from irate fans who were stunned by the error, with one booming: “Congratulations PDC for putting Ukraine flag upside down.”
Another tweeted: “Thought it was just some flag of a country I didn’t know but it’s just Sky putting the Ukraine flag upside down.”
It forced Sky Sports into a humiliating apology, with a spokesperson saying: “We apologise for the error. It was rectified as soon as we were made aware.”
Speaking after his defeat, Omelchenko thanked the Ally Pally crowd for their support and revealed his delight at giving darts a boost in Ukraine.
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He said: “This is definitely going to give a boost to darts in Ukraine. Darts was quite popular in Ukraine before the war but because of that, a lot of people have left and there has barely been any games.
“In the future, after we free Ukraine again, it’s going to give a huge boost for the darts and hopefully it can be even more popular than it was before that.
“It was really hard for me to adapt at the beginning, because it’s the first time I’ve played internationally at such a huge stage and with such a huge audience.”
