'Dangerous fake news': Celtic slam Sky Sports after broadcaster mistranslates interview to include allegation of racial abuse

Glasgow Celtic have refused Sky Sports accreditation to cover their games after the broadcaster erroneously translated an interview with Rangers' Alfredo Morelos in which they claim he said that he was a victim of racial abuse.

Colombian striker Morelos conducted an interview with Sky following the Old Firm Derby on December 29 in which Steven Gerrard's Rangers claimed a 2-1 win away from home against their heated city rivals. 

However, subtitles that appeared on-screen during the interview suggested that Morelos said that he had been racially abused by the home support during the fixture. 

Sky later said that there had been 'inaccuracies' with Morelos' interview and later made a corrected version of the interview available.

"After numerous steps undertaken by Sky to verify the interview thoroughly we can be clear that at no point did Morelos allege that any racial abuse was directed at him by Celtic supporters in the interview," Sky Sports announced. 

"We apologise to the supporters of Celtic Football Club for this serious error. We are reviewing our procedures for translated interviews to ensure this does not occur in future."

Celtic, who were clearly aggrieved at the situation, and have denied entry to Sky reporters to media briefings to their two most recent games against Clyde and Hearts. The club will face Aberdeen this weekend with the impasse between them and the broadcaster not yet remedied. 

"The use of mistranslation to convey false meaning is a dangerous form of fake news which must be condemned and sanctioned," Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell, said. 

The club's anger at the mistake was likely heightened by the traditionally incendiary rivalry between Celtic and Rangers, which is sometimes referred to as the most personal rivalry in all of football - something which the club appear to think doesn't need additional fuel poured over it.

Per The Guardian, Celtic are not satisfied with Sky's explanation and have referred the matter to Ofcom, the UK government regulator of broadcasting. 

"We are assessing these complaints against our broadcasting rules, but have yet to decide whether or not to investigate," said Ofcom, though any official action from them is not immediately expected in the next few weeks.

Sky's position in the matter is complicated by the fact that they have agreed a five-year deal to exclusively broadcast Scottish Premier League games next season.