After Martin Tyler, a football commentator, was referred to by the BBC, Martin Tyler has apologised. “Hillsborough and other hooligan-related issues”Interview with BBC
The Sky Sports commentator, who was talking about football when the incident occurred on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, attracted criticism for linking the tragedy to hooliganism.
He stated: “You have got to remember football was in a bit of a crisis at that time. We weren’t that long after Hillsborough and other hooligan-related issues as well, so it was very much a difficult time for the game generally.”
After attending an FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, on 15 April 1989, 97 supporters were killed in the crush at Sheffield Wednesday stadium.
The 1990 Taylor Report that investigated the tragedy found that South Yorkshire Police’s failure to control crowds was the primary cause. This was in contrast to SYP’s claims of hooliganism and drunken behaviour. A coroner inquest between 2014 and 2016 also ruled those supporters were unlawfully killed and that fans’ behaviour had no contribution to the disaster.
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This is why his comments were widely criticised by many people, including Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City Region, and Paula Barker, MPs.
After the backlash, he apologized through Sky. “This morning, while discussing various crises facing football 30 years ago, I referred to some examples including the Hillsborough disaster and also controversy over hooliganism at matches,”He said.
“These are two separate issues. There is no connection at all between the Hillsborough disaster and hooliganism – I know that, and I was not implying that there was. I apologise sincerely and wholeheartedly for any misunderstanding.”
The BBC stated: “We regret that we did not robustly challenge Martin Tyler on a comment which appeared to link Hillsborough and hooliganism. Martin has since apologised for the comment & clarified that these were separate examples and he did not intend to conflate the two.”
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