BT apology after fans’ backlash

BT SPORT have pulled the plug on a TV promotion for this weekend’s Betfred Cup semifinals and apologised to angry fans who claimed it was disrespectful towards Motherwell and Hibernian. The commercial showed the names of Rangers and Celtic in huge print, while those of their respective Hampden opponents Motherwell and Hibs were depicted in much smaller lettering. Fir Park manager Steve Robinson accused the broadcaster of openly favouring an Old Firm final and urged his players to use the perceived slight as motivation in their last-four clash with the Ibrox side on Sunday. Last night, after a backlash on social media, a spokesman for BT Sport said: ‘This promotional trailer was

removed from our channels earlier today and a revised version will be on air from this evening. We apologise for any offence this may have caused.’ Hibs themselves took a thinly-veiled swipe at the broadcaster by issuing their own promo material with ‘Hibernian’ in giant capitals and ‘Celtic’ in a much smaller font. And Motherwell boss Robinson added his voice to the clamour, saying: ‘I don’t think there are too many people who want ourselves or Hibs in the final by the looks of it. It’s up to us to change that. ‘I’ve said to the boys not to say anything stupid in the Press, and just keep doing what they’ve been doing. We’ll let other people make assumptions and write us off, and make up finals that haven’t happened. ‘If it means an extra motivation for our players, then brilliant. But I don’t think our players need too much motivation to go there and prove people wrong.’ Robinson also insisted that Rangers simply cannot contemplate defeat in their semi-final after spending £8million on players over the summer. ‘Rangers have spent that money to get into cup finals,’ he said. ‘That’s the expectation at that club. They have to get to cup finals, they have to win matches, and they have to beat Motherwell in a semi-final. We have expectation within our dressing room, but we don’t live with that same expectation every day. ‘We’ve managed to scrape players together from Leagues One and Two in England and bring in a real hunger and desire for a minimal amount of money. ‘We’re really pleased to be in the semifinal and to be sitting fourth in the league, a point behind Rangers, who have spent millions and millions of pounds. ‘The imbalance is huge, but only 11 players take to the pitch. We’re not playing against the Rangers badge. We’re not playing against Graeme Souness and Ally McCoist. ‘We’re playing against those 11 Rangers players at this moment in time, and when it comes down to it, whoever produces the best performance will win.’ Rangers are expected to have 38,000 fans at Hampden but Robinson believes it turns up the heat on the Ibrox side, whose last major trophy win was the 2011 League Cup. ‘That’s a lot of expectation on them, that adds to the pressure,’ he added. ‘When the game kicks off, it’s irrelevant. The players will be so focused on their jobs they won’t hear it. Us being outnumbered by Rangers fans at Hampden won’t change what we’re trying to do on Sunday.’