Announcer apologises for racist slur as basketball players knelt during live broadcast

Announcer apologises for racist slur as basketball players knelt during live broadcast.

ANNOUNCER Matt Rowan, owner and operator of the streaming service OSPN, was overheard using profanities during a live stream of a girls’ high school basketball game in Oklahoma.

The slur was caught during a broadcast on the National Federation of High School (NFHS) Network came as players were kneeling for the national anthem, which symbolises a protest against racism.

Seemingly unaware the stream was still live as some of the players from Norman High School knelt while the Star Spangled Banner played, he said.”They’re kneeling?… I hope Norman gets their ass kicked,” while using a profanity.

In a video posted to Twitter on Friday, March 12, he adds: “I hope they lose. C’mon Midwest City.”

The announcer who used a racial slur to describe high school basketball players who kneeled during the national anthem said he had "spiking" blood sugar when he used the n-word.https://t.co/JN0jNKDEqO

— Dylan Goforth (@DGoforth918) March 12, 2021

Announcer Rowan has since apologised in a statement, blaming his use of an offensive term on his Type 1 diabetes.

“While not excusing my remarks it is not unusual when my sugar spikes that I become disoriented and often say things that are not appropriate as well as hurtful,” he said.

Both the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) and the NFHS Network, which was hired to broadcast the game, have also apologised.

Norman Mayor, Breea Clark, blasted the remarks as “disgusting” while teachers have since released an image on Twitter in support of the players’ freedom of speech.

https://twitter.com/reeseg_3/status/1370480513618636800

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