Boy misidentified as Black player's son, league apologizes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League has apologized to a Black player for a North Carolina team for a broadcast that misidentified a boy at her game as her 9-year-old son.

Commissioner Lisa Baird tweeted an apology Monday to North Carolina Courage forward Jessica McDonald, her son and the boy in the camera shot, saying she was “deeply apologetic for the misidentification" during Saturday’s match.

The Charlotte Observer reports that a TV graphic misidentified the child as Jeremiah, the son of McDonald, who is Black. The camera panned to the child in a mask and baseball cap as the announcer called him Jeremiah and highlighted McDonald’s goal in the first half.

The match aired on CBS Sports on Saturday, which was Juneteeth, a national holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. The network had featured a two-minute prerecorded segment about McDonald and her son that day.

McDonald tweeted the 15-second clip on Sunday, writing that she was, “Honored to have been featured at halftime on @CBS but this isn’t even my son. Not sure who’s responsible for pointing out some random black kid in the stands. But this is NOT OK!!!!!! This poor kid looks ssooo uncomfortable…”

Baird also sent a personal apology note to McDonald on Monday, according to a league spokesperson. McDonald commented, writing “Thank you” on Twitter for the apology.