Sports commentary of refereeing errors during TV broadcasts of football matches of the Russian Premier League

Abstract

It has been repeatedly proven that the speech of sports commentators is capable of manipulating the audience. However, there is a need for a study of how sports commentators cover officiating as part of sports discourse. The objective of this study is to determine the ways to present the work of sports officials in sports commentary. The materials for this study are comprised of transcripts from broadcasts of 5 football matches of the Russian Premier League 2023/24 season which, according to the expert officiating committee, involved refereeing errors. We have undertaken pragmatic, lexical and stylistic, speech act and conversation analysis in order to inquire how the sports commentators of the “Match TV” channel discuss difficult officiating decisions and frame the information about a potential refereeing error. These moments hold reputational risks for both the channel and the league since the words uttered by journalists and experts could have an impact on audience’s perception of an event, an officiating crew, and the Russian football industry as a whole. The study has shown that in controversial moments commentators attempt to demonstrate multiple perspectives (of referees, players, colleagues, experts) and, to express their opinion, employ a range of strategies: agreeing with the officials’ decision, using markers of uncertainty and doubt as to avoid uttering the only possible interpretation of an episode, switching the audience’s attention to other aspects of a match, implicitly and explicitly indicating a refereeing error. An explicit option is possible only provided that there are valid reasons and expert commentary or opinion of the majority contradicting the officials, but even in that case the face-threatening act directed at referees is redressed. In a dialogue, sports commentators examine multiple points of view and ways to interpret a difficult officiating decision during a football match.