BBC News made an embarrassing mistake when a legendary footballer was shown instead of a controversial kiss between Spanish FA officials.

Awkward! BBC News made a huge blunder after showing footage of former Manchester City player Pablo Zabaleta instead of Spanish FA chief Luis Rubiales.

The controversy surrounding the Women’s World Cup final has been an ongoing event for the past few weeks. Rubiales, 46, was provisionally suspended by FIFA and condemned for the unsolicited and unwanted kiss he gave to Jenni Hermoso during Spain’s Women’s World Cup win over England.

An emergency assembly was called last Friday, expecting Rubiales to resign. But instead of resigning, Rubiales gave a speech in which he hit out at his critics and claimed that he would not leave. Unfortunately, BBC News used footage of Zabaleta walking and chatting to a female colleague in their daily bulletin, rather than Rubiales.

A spokesperson for BBC News said that the mix-up was a “production error” and has been rectified. Rubiales has since defended his actions, claiming the kiss was ‘spontaneous’ and ‘consensual’. On the other hand, Hermoso was firm in her statement that she had not consented to the kiss.

In response, 56 players including Hermoso and her World Cup-winning teammates released a joint statement demanding for Rubiales’ dismissal. The statement was supported by the Lionesses, who shared their own joint statement calling Rubiales’ actions “unacceptable” and “sexist and patriarchal”.

The Agency has reached out to Pablo Zabaleta’s reps and BBC News for comment. If you have any celebrity stories, videos or pictures, you can contact the entertainment team by email, calling or visiting their Submit Stuff page.

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