There have been lots of incidents between athletes and camera operators over the years. The latest came in England’s Premier League Saturday, with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland pushing a camera operator following his team’s 1-1 home draw against Chelsea:
Haaland, the current Premier League scoring leader, certainly isn’t the only athlete to have a notable run-in with a camera operator. We saw this in the FIFA Women’s World Cup last summer, with England’s Chloe Kelly telling a camera operator to back off from Nigerian keeper Chiamaka Nnadozie. And we’ve seen it with Dallas Cowboys’ coach Mike McCarthy in the NFL last January, with golfer Jon Rahm last May at the PGA Championship, and more.
But Haaland’s actions here were still interesting and unusual. And this did come after quite a rough day for him, and for third-place City, with only a late equalizer getting them a point:
Meanwhile, City manager Pep Guardiola was sympathetic towards Haaland despite his lack of results, as was pundit Micah Richards.
“That’s good, it’s good to have nine shots,” Guardiola said. “Next game he is going to score. I was a football player, I played 11 years, I scored 11 goals. One goal a season. It’s football, it’s human beings.”
As the players gathered on the pitch after the final whistle, Haaland pushed aside a live TV camera focused on the striker’s face.
…”If Haaland put away the chances we’re not even talking about this,” former City player Micah Richards said on Sky Sports. “I never worry about Haaland, his mentality is completely different to most strikers in world football. He always gets an opportunity.”
But it’s still notable to see Haaland act this way. And there will probably be some further criticism for him over this action.
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.