SBS soccer host Lucy Zelic has made a grovelling apology after shocking the SA soccer community by labelling Adelaide a “s***hole” and “incredibly dull and boring”.
The TV personality and sister of former Socceroo Ned Zelic said she was “truly sorry” for her unprovoked comments, which came on The World Game podcast during a conversation with a Scottish recruit to the A-League.
Yesterday I made an off-handed comment about Adelaide on The World Game LIVE. I recognise these comments weren’t okay and I’m truly sorry for what I said.
— Lucy Zelić (@LucyZelic) September 24, 2019
“You won’t see much in Adelaide,” she told Ziggy Gordon after asking the import where he had visited in Australia.
“Adelaide’s a s**thole.
“No disrespect, no disrespect.
“I can say that because I’ve travelled there multiple times and I didn’t enjoy it.
“I found it to be incredibly dull and boring.”
Fox Sports commentator and the voice of soccer in South Australia, Dom Rinaldo, told Mix1023.com.au the comments were naïve.
“It’s very disappointing that Lucy would say something like that about Adelaide especially when you say “Adelaide’s a s***hole but no disrespect”, well I’m sorry but that is disrespectful,” he said.
“I think if she had her time over again, she wouldn’t say it. It’s very naïve for her to come up with something like that especially for someone trying to be the voice of soccer on SBS.
“That’s no way to win friends in Adelaide, maybe it would work in other places but definitely not here!”
The tweets about Zelic’s comments were harsher.
“SBS should sack Lucy Zelic after her offensive comment about Adelaide being ‘a s**thole’,” Orazio di Carlo tweeted.
“What a horrendous statement to make about a city that had often been voted in the top five most liveable cities in the world.
“Lost me as a viewer SBS.”