ABC7 Los Angeles reporter Abigail Velez faced online anger over an ignorant jab at one of the nations competing in the FIFA World Cup.
Velez was covering the U.S. national team’s match on Thursday, a 3-2 loss to Turkey, when she noted the team's next match-up. Bosnia and Herzegovina is slated to face off against the United States in the round of 32 on Wednesday.
Speaking to her colleagues in the studio, Velez quipped:
"The next round, Team USA will play Bosnia next Wednesday and one thing about Bosnia, I could not point out where it is on a map."
"I don’t know the first thing about Bosnia and I don’t want to know because Team USA, we’re back, we’re better than ever."
The Bosnian National Team responded in the most appropriate manner, by sharing video of Velez with the caption:
"My goodness, the stereotypes write themselves……"
You can see their post here:
Internationally, U.S. tourists are stereotyped as knowing very little about the rest of the world. Velez's comment didn't help dispel that reputation.
An American journalist, especially one that covers sports, declaring they know nothing about Bosnia and Herzegovina (often referred to as just Bosnia) should be an embarrassing admission, not a point of pride.
@BosniaNTBall/X
The Southeastern European nation, once a member of the Communist Bloc during the Cold War as part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was home to the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
After the fall of communism in Europe, Yugoslavia, like many former communist nations, eventually split and became six separate countries—Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia—and one recognized nation state—Kosovo.
The U.S. was heavily involved in the Bosnian War that began in 1992. The bloody conflict devastated the region.
@BosniaNTBall/X
U.S. forces led a NATO bombing campaign and the United States brokered the final peace settlement between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia in 1995 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. U.S. military forces remained active in the region until 2004.
A journalist not knowing any of this world and U.S. history is not really an insult for Bosnia and Herzegovina. It's a damning indictment of American education, and Bosnian Football recognized this, even if Velez initially didn't.
In a subsequent post, the Bosnian national team pointed out:
"To make things worse, the President of ABC News is get this…..a Bosnian!"
Oof...
Several of Velez's international colleagues called her out for her ill-conceived comments, including football reporter Nima Tavallaey Roodsari of Sweden...
...British writer and journalist Mark Chadbourn...
...and Canadian journalist Mark Slapinski.
They weren't alone in calling out Velez for bragging about being ignorant.
@theecoobadass/Bluesky
After the backlash, Velez posted a statement on social media, writing:
"In a poor effort to have a little fun with World Cup competition, I took it too far and made a thoughtless comment on air that was insensitive and inappropriate. I apologize to the people of Bosnia and the Bosnian Football team. The World Cup is supposed to be about uniting communities around the world, and my comment didn't reflect that spirit. Wishing all the teams the very best as they continue their World Cup journey."
Bosnian Football was gracious enough to share her post.
@BosniaNTBall/X
Hopefully the rest of the World Cup can avoid such ignorant comments.
