Iain Stirling has been criticised for his comments during Soccer Aid 2024 (Picture: ©UNICEF/Soccer Aid Productions/Stella Pictures)
Iain Stirling has caught heat for a remark viewers deemed insensitive while he commentated on Soccer Aid 2024.
Soccer Aid is an annual star-studded football match raising money for UNICEF, with the likes of Jill Scott, Bobby Brazier, Sam Thompson, Danny Dyer, and Tom Hiddleston playing for England this year.
They face off against World XI, comprising Usain Bolt, Tommy Fury, Roman Kemp, Lee Mack, and Tony Bellew, to name a few, at Stamford Bridge.
Former children’s TV presenter Iain, 36, joined Sam Matterface on co-comms duty for the charity sporting event once again this year.
Mid-way through the game, however, while imploring viewers at home to pick up their phones and donate to charity, he made what social media users branded a ‘classless’ quip.
‘£40, what’s that? A takeaway for the whole family?’, Iain asked.
The Love Island narrator joins Sam Matterface for commentary duties (Picture: ©UNICEF/Soccer Aid Productions/Stella Pictures)
Alex Scott and Dermot O’Leary host the annual football match (Picture: ©UNICEF/Soccer Aid Productions/Stella Pictures)
‘Why not cook and give us £40 instead?’, added the Love Island narrator, who is married to Laura Whitmore.
The comment came as teachers have been dipping into their own pockets to pay for food for children, energy meter poverty hits record high, and bills rise at an astronomical rate.
What Iain said didn’t go unnoticed by viewers, with X user MaxPollard92 asking: ‘Does Iain Stirling know how utterly classless this sounds?’
‘Ian Stirling saying “what’s 40 quid?” Ian mate there’s a cost of living crisis and people in the uk struggling to live and have to go to food banks to survive. 40 quid may be nothing to you, but it’s a lot for people who don’t have much’, blasted ThatJade94.
Agreeing, BeckyGD95 replied: ‘That’s my weekly food shop for just me, I definitely don’t have £40 to give away’.
Expressing her disbelief, she added that she hopes Iain merely ‘didn’t think before he spoke and realised after’.
Viewer agallagher92_ wrote: ‘Iain Stirling has just said “what’s £40?” Acting like it’s spare cash and people aren’t living in a financial crisis’.
In a follow-up post, he said: ‘Shocked me when he was like that’s just a takeaway for the family trying to act like people should give up something they possibly spent all week trying to look forward to’.
Billyspurs also pointed out that many viewers of Soccer Aid will be ‘on the poverty line’, while BeckieMackie92 labelled him ‘out of touch’.
Others argued Iain is ‘detached from reality’ and asked to know what Iain has donated personally.
During Soccer Aid – hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Alex Scott – viewers can donate either £40, £30, £20, or £10. Over £60million has now been raised by Soccer Aid for UNICEF since its inception in 2006.
Edinburgh-born comedian Iain is no stranger to Soccer Aid, having taken part before in various ways.
Playing for the World XI team, Iain took to the pitch when the match took place at Old Trafford in 2020.
Last year, however, he admitted to the MEN: ‘I think after playing once, commentary is where my skill set lies.’
Ian has taken part in Soccer Aid numerous times (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Iain has said he loves ‘being part of the whole Soccer Aid atmosphere’ and ‘knowing you’re part of something that’s doing such great work for such a great cause.’
In 2022 when the event raised over £15million, he expressed his pride, saying it ‘felt like a really special moment’ upon learning of the total.
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