ITV Sacks Earle After Ticket Breach

ITV World Cup coverage has suffered another setback as it has announced
the sacking of pundit Robbie Earle after discovering he had reportedly
passed tickets to a third party in breach of FIFA rules.

The tickets were then believed to be used by a Dutch beer company for an ambush marketing effort at the Netherlands match.

ITV has already suffered negative publicity after 1.5m viewers missed England’s opening goal against the USA due to a technical issue with its high definition channel.

In a statement ITV said: ‘Further enquiries have revealed that a substantial number of tickets allocated to Robbie Earle for family and friends have been passed to a third party in breach of Fifa rules.’

It is understood that between 35 and 40 tickets allocated to Earle ended up in the hands of the marketing company said to have orchestrated the ambush marketing effort on behalf of the beer brand Bavaria via a third party.

36 women in orange mini dresses were ejected from Soccer City during yesterday’s match when FFIA officials ruled that they were part of an organised ambush marketing scheme.

The Dutch beer Bavaria denied the women had any links to its campaign.

It is not believed that Earle will be replaced by a new pundit and the former Jamaican striker denies any wrongdoing.