French sports broadcaster France Pierron was taken off World Cup coverage after making sexist remarks about Belgium and Manchester City winger Jérémy Doku, who plans to leave the Belgian camp briefly if his partner gives birth during the tournament. Doku’s wife, Shirin, is in the late stages of pregnancy, with the birth expected in the second week of July, a period that could overlap with Belgium’s knockout matches if the team advances. Doku has said he would fly to Belgium for the birth and then return to North America if his team is still in the competition.
The controversy erupted on the French show "L'Equipe de Choc" on the L'Equipe channel. Pierron said, "The World Cup is an amazing joy. There are hundreds of footballers who would kill to be in your place. It may never happen again in your life." She then added, "You are fulfilling a childhood dream, and yet you are going to leave all that to be at the birth of your child, a disgusting moment, if you'll pardon the expression, when the father is completely useless. You are not going to cut the umbilical cord, you cannot miss a World Cup." Even after criticism from panelists, she continued, "He is going to waste ten hours, he will be exhausted and have an emotional breakdown. Your baby will always be there."
Pierron later issued an apology on social media, saying she never intended to diminish the role of fathers and that her comments were only her personal opinion in a contentious exchange. She said she understood the remarks may have shocked, hurt or offended some viewers and was sorry. L'Equipe publicly distanced itself from her comments, saying on Friday, June 19, that they had shocked many viewers and were far from the channel’s values.
According to journalist Clément Garin, Pierron was not scheduled for Monday’s program and may not return to World Cup broadcasts. Doku also received support from England, where Aston Villa and England striker Ollie Watkins said, "First of all, 'disgusting' is not the way to describe a birth." Watkins added that welcoming a first child is a blessing and backed Doku’s right to return home, support his partner, and then fly back. Doku missed Belgium’s second group game against Iran because of illness, and Belgium drew 0-0 after narrowly escaping defeat when an Iranian set-piece goal was disallowed following a VAR review.
