By Andrew Warshaw
June 25 – FIFA has acknowledged that its television production team should have thought twice before broadcasting a graphic suggesting Brazil forward Fred was offside when scoring in the 4-1 win over Cameroon.
FIFA director of television Niclas Ericson said at a briefing Tuesday that the error was under review.
“It is very fast decisions to put in that (graphic), but mistakes can happen,” Ericson told reporters.
Fred was onside because he was level with the ball when he received a pass from teammate David Luis. “We are discussing that with the production team why that line was drawn wrongly,” Ericson said of the apparent misunderstanding.
The confusion provoked “many, many minutes” of discussion in Brazilian broadcasters’ commentary, he added.
In general, the Host Broadcast Service has worked a treat and Ericson described it as “the best directors and production team in the world for football.”
The offside graphic, which was also used at the 2010 World Cup, has proved particularly popular, he said. “We just have to make sure it is inserted in the correct way.”
While the offside line caused some controversy for TV, it certainly has added to a record breaking television performance with the Round 1 opening matches setting a number of new audience highs worldwide.
FIFA spent about $150 million on the broadcast production at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and has invested heavily again for 2014 World Cup matches in Brazil.
FIFA has agreed arrangements with more than 160 main Media Rights Licensees for TV around the world, and a total of about 700 licensees across TV, mobile and broadband and radio for the World Cup.
FIFA has released a snapshot of early viewing figures:
Brazil v Croatia
42.9 million watched TV Globo in Brazil, the highest sports broadcast of 2014
1.5 million watched HTV2 in Croatia, highest TV audience of 2014
Spain v Netherlands
7.2 million watched Ned1 in the Netherlands, highest TV audience since 2012
9.3 million watched BBC1 in the UK, best performance of Friday night prime time slot in 2014
Chile v Australia
2.3 million watched SBS at 8 a.m. in Australia, third-highest TV sports audience of 2014, more than men’s final of Australian Open.
Côte d’Ivoire v Japan
34.1 million watched NHK at 10 a.m., twice the size of next biggest sports broadcast of 2014
England v Italy
14.2 million watched BBC1 in the United Kingdom, highest TV audience of the year
12.8 million watched RAI 1, highest TV audience of the year
Switzerland v Ecuador
2.0 million watched SRG channels in Switzerland, highest sports audience of 2014
France v Honduras
15.8 million watched TF1 in France, highest sports audience of 2014
Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina
6.9 million watched Canal 7 in Argentina, highest sports audience of 2014
Germany v Portugal
26.4 million watched ARD in Germany, 85 per cent more than next-biggest 2014 sports audience
Ghana v USA
11.1 million watched ESPN in USA – record high ESPN coverage of men’s FIFA World Cup match
4.8 million watched Univision Spanish coverage in USA – higher than any other sport outside of World Cup this year
Belgium v Algeria
2.2 million watched Canvas in Belgium – second biggest TV audience ever in Dutch-speaking Belgium
1.5 million watched RTBF1 in Belgium – highest TV audience ever in French-speaking Belgium
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