Reports have emerged in recent days that European football's governing body UEFA manipulated footages during the Euro 2012.
People across the world were touched when cameras panned over to a German woman, identified as Andrea from Düsseldorf, in the crowd crying after Mario Balotelli put Italy two goals ahead in the semi-final match between Germany and Italy.
However, the fan's friends thought something was amiss when they saw the clip and texted her.
And Andrea was stunned to receive texts and Facebook messages from bemused friends back home asking why she was blubbing with so much football left to play.
It turns out that the footage had been filmed 40 minutes earlier when she had been overwhelmed by the rousing national anthem pre-match.
UEFA later came out fighting their corner, arguing that they were eager to show "the human story of the game" and "to translate the emotion and the tension of the German fans for this game".
Incredibly, this is not the only time UEFA reused footage of an incident during the pre-match and inserted it during the 90 minutes for better effect.
Clips of Germany coach Joachim Löw jokingly pinching a ball from a ball boy during his team's game with the Netherlands were recorded before the match began.
And investigation has been carried out by German broadcaster ZDF, which had warned UEFA about manipulating images.
"This incident is in no way acceptable," said Dieter Gruschwitz, the ZDF head of sport, in a letter to UEFA.
"Because here it was suggested to the viewer that a scene – the woman with tears – was a direct result of the situation that had just happened, namely the Italians' goal. This is without a doubt a manipulation."
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| This clip of crying fan was actually recorded during the German anthem Photo: YouTube |
People across the world were touched when cameras panned over to a German woman, identified as Andrea from Düsseldorf, in the crowd crying after Mario Balotelli put Italy two goals ahead in the semi-final match between Germany and Italy.
However, the fan's friends thought something was amiss when they saw the clip and texted her.
And Andrea was stunned to receive texts and Facebook messages from bemused friends back home asking why she was blubbing with so much football left to play.
It turns out that the footage had been filmed 40 minutes earlier when she had been overwhelmed by the rousing national anthem pre-match.
UEFA later came out fighting their corner, arguing that they were eager to show "the human story of the game" and "to translate the emotion and the tension of the German fans for this game".
Incredibly, this is not the only time UEFA reused footage of an incident during the pre-match and inserted it during the 90 minutes for better effect.
Clips of Germany coach Joachim Löw jokingly pinching a ball from a ball boy during his team's game with the Netherlands were recorded before the match began.
And investigation has been carried out by German broadcaster ZDF, which had warned UEFA about manipulating images.
"This incident is in no way acceptable," said Dieter Gruschwitz, the ZDF head of sport, in a letter to UEFA.
"Because here it was suggested to the viewer that a scene – the woman with tears – was a direct result of the situation that had just happened, namely the Italians' goal. This is without a doubt a manipulation."
Also see:
- Ex-director labels Barcelona's Spain internationals as 'mercenaries'
- Mario Balotelli depicted as King Kong by Italian newspaper
- Samir Nasri launches foul-mouthed tirade at journalist
- Arshavin in hot water after rant at Russian fans
- Iran ban women from watching Euro 2012
- Russian hooligans assault stadium security guards
