A long-time Turkish sports commentator, Murat Erkam Cimen, has been pulled from TRT’s World Cup coverage after repeatedly confusing Iran and New Zealand during a match in Group G at the 2026 World Cup. The game, played in Los Angeles and ending 2-2, quickly exposed the mistake when Cimen began describing Iran’s attacks as New Zealand’s and vice versa.
The error lasted for several minutes before he realized the mix-up, but by then the clip had gone viral and drew heavy criticism on social media. Old videos of Cimen also resurfaced online, with viewers accusing him of previously describing a replay as if it were a live goal, which intensified the backlash.
TRT said in a formal statement that Cimen had been removed from the broadcaster’s World Cup team in the United States until an internal review is completed, and that he will not continue calling matches in the tournament. The network apologized to viewers and the public, saying, “We apologize to the viewers and the public for this mistake,” and added that it was unacceptable for someone with more than 30 years of sports broadcasting experience to make such an error.
The broadcaster said administrative and investigative proceedings have been opened, and stressed that there would be “no tolerance for any deviation from broadcast standards.” Cimen began his media career in 1997, joined TRT’s match coverage in 2008, and became a full-time TRT Spor employee in 2020.