RTÉ have faced criticism on Thursday, after issues with their broadcast of Ireland's first game at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
The WNT travelled to a World Cup for the first time in their history, and faced a daunting task in their opening game against hosts Australia, who rest among the tournament favourites.
It has been 21 years since any Irish team has played at a senior World Cup and, given it was the women's team's bow at this level, it was an historic moment for Irish sport - but fans were left dissatisfied with elements of the RTÉ broadcast.
READ HERE: How To Get ITV On Sky In Ireland For The Women's World Cup
RTÉ audio consistently out of sync during Ireland v Australia
RTÉ's buildup to the Women's World Cup has been excellent, with a documentary and a preview show airing on Wednesday night in anticipation of the tournament.
Given his pedigree in the game, it was no surprise to see George Hamilton leading RTÉ's commentary team for the game against Australia on Thursday morning, alongside former Ireland international Stephanie Roche.
Despite the excitement for the game both Down Under and in Ireland, the fan experience at home was spoiled somewhat by the technical issues RTÉ experienced during the first half of the game.
The issues first became apparent during Amhrán na bhFiann, when the audio on RTÉ did not line up with the players and fans singing in Sydney. Once the on-field action got underway, it was clear that the audio of George Hamilton's commentary was around 15 seconds ahead of what viewers were seeing on screen.
Once the time delay had been resolved, there came further issues, as there were further problems with the legibility of the fuzzy audio from the commentary box.
Naturally, there was enormous frustration online at the issues.
Anyone else have the Rte commentary totally out of sync with the match footage? #WomensWorldCup #rte
— Mark Tighe (@MarkLTighe) July 20, 2023
Get the RTE sound department in front of the Oireachtas Committee
— Evan Fanning (@evanfanning) July 20, 2023
Imelda Munster's going to have one or two questions about the sound here on RTE.
— Paul Howard (@AkaPaulHoward) July 20, 2023
HEY @rte ANY CHANCE YOU COULD SYNC THE AUDIO WITH THE PICTURES FOR THE IRELAND AUSTRALIA MATCH
— David O'Doherty (@phlaimeaux) July 20, 2023
Australia exists 9 hours into the future so RTÉ are actually doing extremely well to bring it back to only 15 - 20 seconds ahead 👏
— Munster Derby Facts (@munsderbyfacts) July 20, 2023
Ireland's first #WomensWorldCup match and George Hamilton sounds like he's commentating from inside a time warp a few seconds in the future on RTÉ. pic.twitter.com/uGBJu7sxxS
— Mark Tighe (@MarkLTighe) July 20, 2023
Completely bizarre. I guess having blown all that dough on flip flops, RTÉ are relying on some sort of dodgy box for this broadcast. https://t.co/fvvure3LDL
— An Spailpín Fánach (@anspailpin) July 20, 2023
First time Ireland have been in a World Cup since 2002 and Rte 2 can’t even have the sound in sync with the actual match - fair play lads 👍
— Jim Flano 🌐 (@jimFlanagan_) July 20, 2023
— John Fox (@foxymm21) July 20, 2023
In response to the barage of Tweets pointing out the issues on both television and the RTÉ Player, RTÉ Soccer's account acknowledged the problems and said that work was continuing to rectify them.
We're aware of audio issues and working to rectify them as quickly as possible.
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 20, 2023
Many fans chose to switch to rival broadcaster ITV, who were also showing the game live - though several of these expressed their frustration on social media at having to watch such an historic Ireland game on a channel other than RTÉ.
Forced into the arms of ITV because RTÉ’s picture and sound are out of sync. A new low
— Dion Fanning (@dionfanning) July 20, 2023
SEE ALSO: World Cup Call-Up Bringing Marissa Sheva Closer To Her Irish-American Heritage
