Football commentator Clive Tyldesley left the World Cup early last week after being informed he would not be commentating live on a quarter-final match by ITV Sport, according to reports.
Tyldesley was stood down from his position as the broadcaster's lead commentator in July 2020 after 22 years in that role. Sam Matterface took over as the broadcaster’s main commentator, with Tyldesley becoming ITV's number two, while he also took on roles at other broadcasters, including CBS Sports and Amazon Prime Video.
The 68-year-old returned home from Qatar last week after commentating for ITV as Portugal thrashed Switzerland 6-1 in the round of 16. Tyldesley was one of the most iconic voices for British audiences throughout the tournament and has been a mainstay of the broadcaster’s coverage for decades.
ITV broadcast two of the competition’s four quarter-final ties over the weekend, showing Portugal’s defeat by Morocco before showing France edging out England. Tyldesley had already left Qatar by that stage.
Jon Champion and Ally McCoist were the commentary team that narrated Morocco’s historic progression to the last four of the World Cup, before Matterface was paired with Lee Dixon to oversee England’s agonising exit at the hands of the world champions hours later on Saturday.
A report from the Daily Mail outlines how Tyldesley made the decision to return home early after being informed that he had not been selected by ITV to be part of the broadcast for either match. Instead, it is said that he was asked to commentate matches that would be part of the station’s highlight packages.
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That would have meant Tyldesley was commentating for either the game between Croatia and Brazil, which saw t he pre-tournament favourites lose on penalties, or Argentina’s dramatic shootout victory over Netherlands. Both games were aired on rival broadcaster BBC Sport, but ITV showed highlights packages of them on Friday.
ITV granted Tyldesley’s request to return home to England, with the commentator then taking to Twitter to write, alongside a glass of red wine, passport and boarding pass: “My 8th World Cup in the job of my dreams and the first time I'm going to be home before England!”
Tyldesley's return home means ITV's main commentary team for the remainder of the tournament is Matterface, Champion, Seb Hutchinson and Joe Speight. The four quarter-finals are followed by two semi-finals in midweek, a third-placed play-off on Saturday and the final on Sunday.
