World Cup Drama: Commentator sparks outrage for remarks about black players on national television.
Commentator faces backlash for allegedly racist remarks following Belgium’s red card at the World Cup.
A major controversy erupted at the 2026 World Cup when former Serbian striker Rade Bogdanovic was heavily criticized for what were deemed racist remarks on national television. The controversy began with defender Nathan Ngoy’s red card in the 0-0 draw between Belgium and Iran in the World Cup group stage.
What should have been just an unfortunate professional mistake by the young Belgian player quickly turned into a major controversy after Bogdanovic’s shocking comments on Serbia’s public television channel RTS. In the match in Los Angeles, Ngoy made a misplaced pass in the second half before fouling Mehdi Taremi, who was playing as the last defender, resulting in a direct red card.
The goalless draw meant Rudi Garcia’s Belgium team remained winless after two matches and faced immense pressure ahead of their crucial game against New Zealand. After the match, while analyzing Ngoy’s situation live on air, Bogdanovic shocked viewers by saying:
“At this level, being the last line of defense and mishandling a stationary ball and getting sent off… I always say that players like that, and I’m not a racist, but black players can’t maintain concentration for more than 60 to 80 minutes.”
The former Atletico Madrid striker further defended his point with personal experience: “I played alongside them. Sometimes we even had to protect our own teammates from the mistakes they might make.”
These statements immediately created tension in the studio. The RTS presenter immediately questioned Bogdanovic, but the former Serbian star neither apologized nor retracted his statement.
Ngoy was sent off in the 66th minute (Photo: Getty)
Rade Bogdanovic is a commentator on RTS, Serbia’s national television channel (Photo: RTS).
He continued: “If you go into detail, there’s much more to say. They also made mistakes. Of course, I’m not generalizing, but most lacked concentration, and then situations like this happened.”
His attempt to downplay the issue with the statement “I’m not generalizing” did not lessen the wave of protests. Many believe Bogdanovic turned a young player’s individual mistake into a racial prejudice against an entire group of people.
Nathan Ngoy is only 23 years old, and the match against Iran was only his sixth appearance for the Belgian national team. His red card was a turning point in the match, but it was essentially just a normal football situation: a misplaced pass, a tactical foul, and a dismissal by the referee.
Following the incident, RTS is facing numerous questions about how it handled the controversial statement broadcast live on national television during one of the world’s biggest sporting events. To date, no public punishment has been announced for Bogdanovic.
The story is no longer just about Nathan Ngoy’s red card or Belgium’s underwhelming performance. It has become a debate about discrimination in football – a sport that for many years has maintained that there is no place for prejudice in any form.
