VIDEO: Mark Lawrenson in hot water after this Olivier Giroud comment

The pundit was caught on the hop and had to say something about Olivier Giroud’s goal. Maybe he shouldn’t have said this though.

Wed, 21 Oct, 2015 - 13:30

Grainne McGuinness

Mark Lawrenson drew some unwanted attention on himself last night while commentating on the Champions League encounter between Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

To be fair, no-one watching the match was really expecting Arsenal to score when they did, so the pundit was caught on the hop and had to say something about Olivier Giroud’s goal.

Maybe he shouldn’t have said this though.

“Off his nose, probably,” Lawrenson. “He’s French, he’ll have a big nose, won’t he?”

Oh dear.

We think the headlines referring to his remark as ‘racist’ are probably a little strong, but the comment definitely caught the attention of viewers.

"But he's French so he'll have a big nose, won't he?" Mark Lawrenson at his finest here on TV3
— Colm Boohig (@ColmBoohig) October 20, 2015

Mark lawrenson with some casual bigotry against the French there
— Graham Rossiter (@WicklowGooner) October 20, 2015

This guy seemed more upset by the suggestion that Giroud was anything other than gorgeous than any stereotyping involved.

Mark Lawrenson's casual racism about Giroud having a big nose 'cos he's French was an embarrassment. Everyone knows Girouds face is perfect!
— Kildare Gunner (@KildareGunner) October 20, 2015

And of course someone brought up that handball.

Poor Mark Lawrenson getting grief over his Giroud & French nose comments He never mentioned the handball They're more famous for that #ucl
— Cregor News (@CregorNews) October 20, 2015

Think before you speak Mark.

It wasn't the only controversy surrounding TV3 last night, many viewers were left fuming when the match coverage froze minutes before the goal.

@TV3SportIreland @TV3Ireland you had one job and you messed up, why has tv3 frozen at 71.24 minutes. Every other channel work's
— Des Cullen 🏁🇮🇪🏁 (@DesDescullen) October 20, 2015

We apologise for the frozen picture on the Sky HD platform. TV3 HD on Virgin Media and Evision is unaffected. (1/1)
— Virgin Media Television (@VirginMedia_TV) October 20, 2015