English football has been in a state of mourning over the last few days after the news broke that Sheffield United player Maddy Cusack suddenly passed away at the age of 27.
The midfielder made over 100 appearances for the Blades since joining in 2019, having also recently signed a new contract.
The club have been hit hard by the news of her death, with tributes pouring in from across the world of football over the last couple of days.
Sky Sports criticised for coverage of Sheffield United tribute
With the Sheffield United men's team returning to action this afternoon, they took the opportunity to pay tribute to Maddy Cusack ahead of their game against Newcastle United. The players all sported shirts with 'Cusack 8' on the back ahead of the fixture, while they would also hold a minute's silence.
Ahead of the Newcastle game, we will celebrate & honour the life of Maddy Cusack, a loved & respected figure of the Sheffield United family.
There will forever be a void in the hearts of everyone connected to the club & a number of activities have been planned to remember her.… pic.twitter.com/cHeXKuN4Eb— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) September 24, 2023
While that tribute was impeccably observed by both sets of supporters, the way it was covered on the television broadcast of the game has resulted in some criticism.
This fixture was being shown live on Sky Sports and when the tribute to Maddy Cusack was taking place, they opted to cut to an ad break in order to get in another set of commercials before kick-off. It certainly was not a good look, with the move resulting in plenty of criticism.
a tribute to Maddy Cusack so they cut it off to adverts? Yeah Sky are shit
— JD (@mangoholic_trfc) September 24, 2023
don’t think i’ve ever seen anything that sums up the modern state of sports media/broadcasting more than sky sports going for an ad-break (ladbrokes, of course) during the memorial ceremony for maddy cusack
— 🇬🇧 (@UpTheRedBulls) September 24, 2023
Disappointing that Sky Sports have given literally 10 seconds to Sheffield United’s tributes to Maddy Cusack, and given a longer package to the Solheim Cup
— Molly Hudson (@M0lly_Writes) September 24, 2023
Sky Sports cutting to an advert in the middle of a tribute to Maddy Cusack isn't a great look #SuperSunday #nufc
— Daniel Barker (@DanBarker92) September 24, 2023
Wow. Sky sports just went to an advert break whilst Sheffield United are paying respects to Maddy Cusack… disgusting
— Lauren Richier (@ldrichier) September 24, 2023
So Sheff United do a tribute for Maddy Cusack, and what do sky sports do? Interrupt it with a ad break. The disrespect from the 🤡 is unbelievable.
— Nick Mellor (@nickmellor35) September 24, 2023
Sky have no shame. Showing the tribute to Maddy Cusack and they cut it short to go to an advert break
— Michael Nihill (@mnihill) September 24, 2023
Sky Sports regularly cut to a short ad break just before kick-off during their Premier League broadcasts, but they perhaps should have shown better judgement and avoided doing so on this occasion.
This is not the first occasion this season that their approach to covering a tribute to a recently deceased person has been criticised, having been forced to apologise for comments made about Sean Dyche when he wore an armband to mark the passing of Everton stadium worker Michael Jones last month.
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