An American sports reporter has sparked international outrage following dismissive comments about Bosnia and Herzegovina made on-air ahead of the U.S. Men's National Team's World Cup knockout match against the European nation.
ABC 7 Los Angeles reporter Abigail Velez went viral over the weekend for admitting she had no knowledge of Bosnia and Herzegovina during a broadcast previewing the U.S. team's Round of 32 clash. "The next round, Team USA will play Bosnia and the thing about Bosnia is that I could not point out where it is on the map," Velez stated. "I don't know the first thing about Bosnia and I don't want to know. That's because Team USA, we're back and better than ever."
She concluded her remarks by saying, "Be prepared Bosnia, because you don't want it like that."
The clip quickly spread across social media, drawing significant backlash from Bosnian fans and some U.S. sports enthusiasts. "My goodness, the stereotypes write themselves," one Bosnian fan commented. Others criticized the reporter's perceived ignorance, with one user on X writing, "Imagine how vacuous she is. Imagine trying to have an intelligent conversation with her."
Another commenter suggested, "Some competitive talk is always fun, but that’s not the way to do it." The sentiment that the reporter's remarks were unintelligent was echoed by others, with one user asking, "Why do Americans think being unintelligent/ignorant is funny?"
Some American supporters expressed embarrassment over the segment, with a few apologizing to Bosnia and Herzegovina for Velez's comments. As the World Cup fixture approaches, neither ABC 7 Los Angeles nor Velez have issued a formal public statement or apology regarding the controversy.