Man City, Tiger Woods? Odd commentary in S’pore-Malaysia ASEAN Cup tie by host broadcaster: Mediacorp

SINGAPORE – The match commentary for Singapore’s 6-0 FIFA ASEAN Cup humbling by Causeway rivals Malaysia on Oct 1 was provided by the host broadcaster appointed by FIFA, Mediacorp said on Oct 2, after fans complained online that parts of the voice-over were unusual and out of context.

In a media reply, the broadcast company said: “We share viewers’ concerns regarding the commentary for the match between Malaysia and Singapore on Oct 1, and have conveyed them to the relevant parties.

“The host broadcaster is preparing a corrected version of the match commentary, which will replace the current version on mewatch once it is delivered to Mediacorp.”

The match was broadcast on Mediacorp’s Channel 5 and mewatch Live6 as well as on FIFA+ on DAZN, which has been billed as “the official home of the FIFA+ streaming service”.

The full match broadcast, as well as highlights packages with the commentary issues, remain on mewatch’s platforms and the Mediacorp Sports YouTube channel as at 4.35pm on Oct 2.

Some examples of the bizarre utterances during the broadcast include referring to Singapore’s Harhys Stewart as (Khvicha) Kvaratskhelia, who plays for the Georgia national team and Paris Saint-Germain, and describing the Lions’ pre-match singing of Majulah Singapura as “a wonderful rendition of Japan’s national anthem”.

There was also several mentions of major European teams such as Liverpool, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund, without much coherent context.

Following the national anthem mix-up, the commentator said: “As the players go through their formalities and their final match preparations, it is a question of who will have the edge over each other today. Manchester City so strong, of course, sending players all around the world these days.”

At one point, the commentator even seemed to mix up sports, making reference to a golf great as he described “a brilliant ball by Ryder Cup captain Tiger Woods” at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung.

It left several fans musing on social media if the commentary had been AI-generated. Said one on the KallangWave Reddit thread: “Wait they seriously used AI commentator!?”

However, The Straits Times understands the match commentary was not AI-generated and that football’s global governing body FIFA is looking into the matter with its broadcast partners.

ST also ran portions of the commentary through three artificial intelligence detection tools and they determined that the audio was likely voiced by a human.

Viewers who caught the match on both Mediacorp and DAZN voiced similar complaints about the commentary on social media.

DAZN is a British sports streaming platform which has held broadcast rights for major events such as the Champions League, NBA and MotoGP in various regions.

ST has contacted DAZN and FIFA for comment.

In October 2025, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced the launch of the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

The Swiss claimed it “will be a great addition to the regional football calendar” and “allow the best players in the Asean region to shine on the global stage”.

The winners of the 2026 tournament can expect to receive US$1 million (S$1.28 million) in prize money from FIFA.

The overall prize purse for the FIFA ASEAN Cup is expected to exceed US$4 million, with every team offered a guaranteed US$125,000 participation fee in addition to bonuses for each win or draw.

In comparison, the ASEAN Football Federation awarded Vietnam US$300,000 for winning the 2024 ASEAN Championship – which has long been regarded as the region’s premier football competition.