A Danish television channel has come under heavy criticism after the host compared Moroccan players and their mothers with monkeys on live television.
TV 2 News showed a segment in which the anchor Soren Lippert held up an image of monkeys embracing while talking about Morocco’s national team players hugging their mothers.
Touching scenes of the national team celebrating their historic victories at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar have gone viral across the world, with many describing it as a rare positive reflection of Arab culture from the Western world.
As the Moroccan team has made history at the tournament by becoming the first African and Arab nation to reach the semi-finals, but has faced a barrage of racist and Islamophobic attacks from Western media, reported Doha News.
The report added that earlier another Western outlet published a caricature showing Moroccans in tracksuits on a motorbike ‘stealing’ the World Cup trophy from Gianni Infantino, in what many described as a racist European stereotype of North Africans being ‘thugs’ and ‘criminals’.
A German television anchor also sparked outrage online after comparing the Moroccan national team with the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).
The Welt anchor showed an image of three national team players after a successful World Cup game, in which they raised their index fingers.
This is a common gesture for billions of Muslims around the world who praise Allah by professing the concept of Tawhid, or Oneness.
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is the first such time the tournament is being held in a Muslim and Arab nation, with thousands of fans using the opportunity to showcase their support of Palestine. Flags have been raised across fan zones as well as stadiums throughout the tournament, the Qatar-based website reported.
