Slovakia’s flag was mistakenly replaced with Slovenia’s during the Czech television broadcast of a Czechia-Slovakia game in Canada on December 30, 2024. (source: Platform X)
Monday night’s highly anticipated Slovakia-Czechia clash at the U20 World Championship in Ottawa, Canada, came with an unexpected sideshow. Before the puck even dropped, Czech TV’s ČT Sport made a howler in its pre-game graphics, reports the sports news website Športweb.
Viewers tuning in for the live broadcast were greeted by the familiar faces of commentators Robert Záruba and Milan Antoš, accompanied by team flags. The problem? Slovakia’s flag was swapped out for Slovenia’s.
While Slovakia and Slovenia often fall victim to mix-ups abroad, the error was particularly eyebrow-raising given the shared history of Slovakia and Czechia, which formed a single nation until 1993. Sport.cz jokingly quipped that ČT Sport had “kicked off their New Year’s Eve programming early.”
ČT Sport’s editor-in-chief Michal Dusík quickly addressed the gaffe, pinning the blame on a production assistant and confirming disciplinary action had been taken. “The sports department deeply apologises for this serious mistake. We regret the error and have adjusted our oversight processes to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Dusík said.
Slovakia finished Group B in third place with five points, setting up a tough quarter-final game against Finland. The tournament, held in Ottawa, runs until January 6.
