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Robert Hynes & Rachel Curran

RTE commentator George Hamilton leaves World Cup viewers concerned as he sports black eye on live TV

RTE viewers were concerned for commentator George Hamilton as he sported a black eye while reporting from the World Cup in Qatar.

The 72-year old was reporting from the Middle East for RTE when viewers noticed his face had some bad bruises. Fans took to Twitter wondering what happened to George.

One person tweeted: "What on earth happened to our George Hamilton?" Another Twitter user joked: "George Hamilton looking like he’s gone 10 rounds with Tyson Fury."

Read more: RTE's Tony O'Donoghue 'interrupted by police' while filming in Qatar ahead of World Cup

However, George revealed that he got the black eye after a fall inside the airport after arriving in Qatar. He recalled an unlucky incident that ruled Spanish goalkeeper Santiago Canizares out of the 2002 World Cup.

George said: "He was shaving in the bathroom in his hotel when he accidentally smashed a bottle of aftershave in the wash hand basin, a shard of glass severed a tendon in his foot and he was out of the World Cup. He missed the whole thing altogether but hey I'm here and the show is about to get on the road."

The World Cup veteran covered his first tournament back in 1978. He recalled: "There was controversy about that too because it was held in Argentina where the government was run by the military.

"Now you look back on Argentina across those 44 years and what do you think about? You actually think about the football. You think about the wonderful Argentine team that took on the Dutch in the World Cup final having come through a marvellous occasion."

He added: "It was football than won through."

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