After Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty kick in Portugal's Euro 2024 match against Slovenia, renowned writer Piers Morgan criticized the BBC for the controversial caption, "Misstiano Penaldo," as reported by Sportskeeda. Morgan brought attention to the media's supposed bias against Ronaldo by asking if the BBC would have treated Lionel Messi similarly.
In the second overtime, Portugal's Ronaldo had a golden chance to take the lead, but the opposing goalie, Jan Oblak, made a diving save. The scene was captioned with "Misstiano Penaldo," a lighthearted jab at Ronaldo's expense, on the BBC Sport highlights package. Nevertheless, Morgan was offended by the caption and used terms like "cheap" and "disrespectful."
"What person is responsible for this? During a publicly-funded broadcast of an international competition, why did they believe it's acceptable to make such a cheap joke about a football star like Cristiano? An X account was used by Morgan to write.
Is it fair to say that the BBC would have treated Messi or any other superstar the same way? No. Then why did they target Ronaldo specifically?
The harsh scrutiny Ronaldo endures, even when he isn't playing well, is emphasized by Morgan's critique. Despite his reputation as a prolific scorer, the Portugal great has failed to find the back of the net at Euro 2024.
Both Messi and Ronaldo have never scored in a Copa America before, but it happened in 2024. Regardless, Messi has been magnificent in the middle of the field, directing most of Argentina's positive efforts and even contributing an assist.
Media bias and the treatment of elite athletes have been topics of discussion in light of the controversy surrounding the BBC caption. For some, the title is a lighthearted jest, but for others, Morgan's remarks hit close to home since they think Ronaldo is unfairly criticized.
Whatever the case may be, it has only served to heighten the already heated discussion over how much influence the media has on how the general public views athletic events and their results.