Complaint over Ryan Tubridy's comments on England fans after Euro 2020 final rejected

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has published its recent broadcasting complaints decisions, including one relating to comments made by Ryan Tubridy in the wake of the Euro 2020 final last summer.

At its meeting in September 2021, the Compliance Committee of the BAI considered and rejected one complaint while the Executive Complaints Forum of the BAI considered and rejected twelve complaints in meetings held in August, September and October.

The complaint relating to RTE Radio One's Ryan Tubridy concerned comments made by the presenter on the morning following the Euro 2020 Final between England and Italy.

The complainant believes the presenter engaged in “lazy stereotyping” of England football fans and made several offensive comments in this regard.

The BAI report of the complaint read: "The complainant believes the presenter’s comments on domestic violence were offensive and his comments about racism were also offensive because the presenter did not put this in context of EU data on the experience of racial harassment across the EU.

"The complainant believes it was offensive for the presenter to say that many England football fans were involved in bad behaviour. The complainant claims it was offensive and irresponsible of the presenter to imply that all the racist social media messages were sent by England fans and it was irresponsible of the presenter not to reflect the possibility that Irish people sent some of those messages.

"The complainant also believes it was offensive of the presenter to read out “biased” messages from listeners that supported the presenter’s views and to lecture the listener who had called him anti-English. The complainant believes it was offensive to not mention the disorder in Paris after the 2016 Final or the riots by PSG fans after the 2020 Champions League Final.

"The complainant believes the presenter stating he is not anti-English does not mean his comments are not anti-English. In fact, the complainant is of the view that stating this was a clear signal the presenter knew he had “crossed a line”.

RTE defended its position and the show in a statement to the BAI. It read: "The style of the programme is for the presenter to 'muse over' news stories, using open-ended questions to engage listeners with the programme and get them to express their views by email, text and social media."

They said that Tubridy opened the discussion about the Euro Final between England and Italy by saying that he was very keen to see England in the Final and it was great they were there as it added to the excitement around the match.

RTE's defence noted he went on to discuss the violence and racial abuse surrounding the event and it "believes the presenter’s comments reflected the widespread criticism of the violent disturbances and racial abuse that became the main topic of discussion across most radio and television across the globe, including the UK and Ireland."

RTE said it was of the view Ryan Tubridy's comments were not anti-English and noted that "the facts of the matter are that there was racial abuse of players, that this abuse was widely reported and condemned, and that some England fans engaged in violence and broke security at the stadium."

"With reference to the position on “offence” set out in the Code of Programme Standards, the broadcaster is of the view the presenter’s comments were not unduly offensive and did not cross a line. The broadcaster states the comments were not and did not purport to be a comprehensive analysis of all possible explanations for the various events but rather they were a reflection on those events and how they were covered in the media. The broadcaster believes the comments were in
keeping with the well-established style and manner of the presenter and audience expectations of the programme."

They believed the complaint should not be upheld.

The BAI Executive Complaints Forum agreed and rejected the complaint. 

In their decision, they stated:  "The segment complained of was the presenter reflecting on the news stories of the morning and, on this day, the main story was the events surrounding the previous night’s Euro 2020 Final between England and Italy, including violence at and around the stadium on the night of the match and racist comments directed at some of England’s players on social media. The presenter offered his views on these events and read out comments from social media.

"In considering whether the content stereotyped English people or football fans in such a way as to contravene the above-mentioned legislative and Code provisions, the Forum noted the presenter did not make any generalised statements about English people or even English football fans but spoke specifically about the previous night’s events and the people involved in violence and/or racism.

"The presenter noted that these events were 'a horrible reflection of the worst of England' and noted some England football fans 'turn' on the team and the manager when the team loses a match, stating 'not all of them, lots of people'. In speaking about the people involved in this behaviour towards the end of the segment, the presenter stated, 'And again, like we said last week, it’s a group of people, it’s not the team themselves, who are very highly regarded. The manager is very highly regarded. It was just a horrible outcome from what should have been a joyful occasion.'"

The Forum noted the presenter praised Arsenal and Manchester United football clubs for condemning the racial abuse aimed at the football players and for supporting those players.

"In relation to domestic abuse, the presenter quoted a statistic about incidences of such abuse increasing when England lose football matches and commented on an organisation that was providing support for women in these situations on the night of the match," the decision read.

The Forum found no evidence in this content of the presenter stigmatising English people or supporting or condoning discrimination against English people or inciting hatred against English people. It found the comments made by the presenter were appropriate and justifiable in the context of the news story that was covered.

The decision statement continued:  "The Forum acknowledges the complainant was offended by the content, however, the Code recognises that matters which cause offence can differ from person to person and are largely subjective in nature and, consequently, there can be no guarantee that programme material will be free from offence and there is no right not to be offended. However, broadcasters must not broadcast content that would cause undue offence, that is, programme material that could still be regarded as having crossed a line, having taken into account the relevant contextual factors. Based on the above considerations, the Forum did not believe the broadcast had been unduly offensive."

The Forum decided the programme did not infringe the relevant provisions of the Broadcasting Act, 2009 or the Code of Programme Standards.