Viewers spared ‘amateurish’ World Cup commentary in Maltese

During 2014's World Cup in Brazil, Maltese viewers will be denied the opportunity to watch the 64 matches in Maltese, following the Public Broadcasting Services' decision to broadcast the games in English.

PBS insiders have told MaltaToday that the decision was taken due to the "poor quality of commentary" provided by a limited pool of commentators.

During the last two major tournaments, PBS offered viewers the possibility of choosing between different languages. Notwithstanding that a small segment of Maltese society speaks and understands only Maltese, this time around commentary will only be available in English.

The art of football commentary should serve to reduce the distance between the spectators and the commentators, but in recent years Maltese commentators, with a few exceptions, have been a source of amusement and ridicule.

The amateurish quality of commentary offered by a mishmash of sport journalists and pseudo-experts is a far cry from that offered on foreign television stations epitomized by legendary football commentators such as Sandro Ciotti or John Motson.

Following an influx of new commentators during Euro 2012, PBS paid commentators €50 per game, down from the €70 paid during the 2010 World Cup. However, with the notable exception of one or two commentators, there was no tangible affect on the quality of commentary.

Trained and experienced commentators around the world master the language and put great effort in there preparation, pronunciation and animation.

They normally have an ability to vividly describe what is happening on the pitch while dishing out relevant stats at the right time and keeping viewers glued to their screens by creating excitement.

John Motson, voted the greatest football commentator in English history, once noted that commentators "must get excitement, passion and enthusiasm into their voice so that the viewer at home can get into a game and enjoy it to the full." 

In Malta, viewers have become accustomed to local commentators mispronouncing names, confusing players and getting entangled in incomprehensible non-sequiturs.

"Some of them believe that Yugoslavia still exists and others have a habit to blabber on without describing what is going on in the pitch as they sit comfortably in studios 10,000 miles away from the stadia," a PBS insider who spoke to MaltaToday said.

The BBC and other institutions abroad offer training courses and support structures which prepare journalists, while Maltese commentators scramble for the few opportunities available without receiving any formal training.