Arsenal fans are less than happy about a ‘disrespectful’ BBC tweet headlining an article about Arsene Wenger on Friday.
In one of the feel-good stories of the week, Wenger was awarded Liberia’s highest honour by President George Weah, receiving a medal in front of thousands of spectators and hearing deserved praise from Weah and other speakers at the event.
Apparently that didn’t make a good headline for BBC Africa though, who went with “Arsenal’s ex-coach Arsene Wenger finally wins a medal, thanks to Liberia’s President George Weah”.
Arsenal's ex-coach Arsene Wenger finally wins a medal, thanks to Liberia's President George Weah https://t.co/wh9qzpO9SG pic.twitter.com/tjQ9VhcwMR
— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) August 24, 2018
Not only was the tweet particularly disrespectful to someone who has given pretty much his entire life to football and advancing the careers of others, regardless of race and nationality, but it was also complete inaccurate, as Arsenal fans pointed out.
BBCAfrica should do better❌.
Arsene Wenger has medals for✅:
-Order of British Empire (OBE)
-LMA Manager of the Year x2
-BBC Sports Personality of the Year
-Ligue 1 title,
-Coupe de France
-Emperor's Cup
-J-League Super Cup.
-French Manager of the Year
-17 trophies with Arsenal https://t.co/7n1sp4ghkV— Bhadmus Hakeem (@Bhadoosky) August 25, 2018
Others pointed out how classless the attempt to boost traffic was, given the history of the story.
Wenger took George Weah from war-torn Liberia & helped develop him into a Ballon d’Or winner during a time where racism was at its peak, and is now being rewarded for it. But hey, let’s wrongfully mock his trophies won during his moment of pride. Stay classy, BBC. https://t.co/cPVcCLQeJA
— Patrick Timmons (@PatrickTimmons1) August 25, 2018
You expect this sort of story from the publications that rely on advertising income more, but the BBC really shouldn’t need to resort to such tactics for clicks.
BBC are now as trashy and classless as The Sun,Mirror and the rest of the media rags.
— Suzie Guendouzi (@Suzagooner) August 24, 2018
Actually 7th medal mate
— emmanuel essel (@EsselDelta) August 24, 2018
Very insulting. Whoever put this up is definitely not helping BBC as a brand.
— Prof. Chidi Gab (@chidigab2000) August 24, 2018
Coming from an institution I respect so much. They should delete NOW!
— M. Tahir Hassan (@mrtahir7) August 24, 2018
It’s good to see that Arsenal fans are all banding together to stand up for their former coach against this sort of nonsense, at least. Wenger may have split opinion towards the end of his time at the club, but now that it’s over, any real supporter of the Gunners can appreciate the massive impact he had in North London and across the world.