George Hamilton had RTE viewers expressing their concern as he reported from the World Cup opener in Qatar sporting a black eye.
The commentator has travelled to the Middle East for the tournament and was reporting back to Peter Collins in studio when viewers noticed the bruising on his face.
One person tweeted: "What on earth happened to our George Hamilton?"
READ MORE: Qatar v Ecuador LIVE updates from the World Cup opener
Another posted: "What happened to George Hamilton's eye?"
Someone else said: "What happened to George Hamilton's face?"
"George Hamilton looking like he’s gone 10 rounds with Tyson Fury," joked another Twitter user.
However, George revealed that it was a fall inside the airport after arriving in Qatar that caused the bruising as 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 72-year-old is somewhat of a World Cup veteran, having covered his first tournament back in 1978.
He explained: "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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