As a kid I used to turn off the sound on games and try to commentate. Hearing Vicki Sparks on the BBC rn makes me so excited for all the little girls who get to hear a female voice doing just that. #PORMOR ❤️⚽🙋<doc-sep>Vicki Sparks commentates for BBC during the 2018 FIFA World Cup match between Portugal and Morocco. The play began slowly, with a neat corner kick to one of Portugal's midfielders - four minutes into last week's World Cup match against Morocco. The drama built with a lob to the six-yard box, tantalisingly close to the goal. And it reached a crescendo with a a diving header by Cristiano Ronaldo that sent the ball to the back of Morocco's net. 1-0. Who gets to narrate such moments of high athletic drama became a subject of controversy this week when Vicki Sparks, a British sports journalist who made history by becoming the first woman to commentate on a live World Cup match for British television, faced criticism for her "high-pitched tone." "I prefer to hear a male voice when watching football," Jason Cundy, a former defender for Chelsea and Tottenham, said on Good Morning Britain. SANDRA HOEVER 2DF Claudia Neumann (pictured), Fox's Aly Wagner and Telemundo's Viviana Vila are the first in-match World Cup analysts on US broadcast television. "Ninety minutes of hearing a high-pitched tone isn't really what I like to hear. And when there's a moment of drama, as there often is in football, that moment needs to be done with a slightly lower voice." READ MORE: * Suarez - club rivalry pushed aside vs Ronaldo at World Cup * World Cup demystifies some Russian stereotypes as host nation embraces Fifa tournament * World Cup security concerns * Germany stunned, eliminated * Sweden, Mexico into last 16 * The champions who couldn't back up The assessment - "just a personal preference", Cundy said on the ITV show, disclaiming bias - is a familiar one for women who venture to speak in male-dominated spheres. A similar judgment dogged Hillary Clinton in her pursuit of the Oval Office. It weighs, too, on women in media and entertainment. MARK LENNIHAN Aly Wagner analyses the World Cup for Fox. Cundy's objection to the female commentator drew the rebuke of Piers Morgan, co-host of Good Morning Britain, and became one more piece of evidence that the World Cup is proving to be a fraught arena for gender relations and norms of appropriate conduct, as female sports journalists fend off unwanted kissing and groping - sometimes on air. In both cases, full-throated condemnations have echoed more loudly than the original affront. "Your annoyance appears to be because they have too pitchy voices even though yours is just as pitchy, which seems to make you a sexist pig," Morgan told Cundy, referring to a side-by-side comparison revealing that his voice was in the same pitch range as Sparks'. AP Telemundo Deportes shows World Cup analyst Viviana Vila at its studios in Miami. Morgan warned the pundit and former competitor: "This is not a fight to pick. This is not a hill to die on." Cundy later came to the same conclusion, issuing a three-part Twitter apology on Monday night. "There are times when you have to hold your hands up and admit you are wrong and have been an idiot - and this is definitely one of those times," he wrote, adding that there was "absolutely no place for these demeaning attitudes towards female commentators." The flap brought renewed attention to Sparks' performance, which shattered a glass ceiling long keeping women from the prominent role of commentator. Umbrage at Cundy's comments reflected disbelief that a view apparently tinged by gender bias could be trumpeted so plainly amid the current reckoning with discrimination and abuse endured by women. "God forbid a woman could talk for 90 minutes," said Susannah Reid, the Good Morning Britain's co-host. "I mean, something I could only dream of, frankly." Lynsey Hooper, a sports reporter, said Sparks' performance was personal for female sports fans - and cause for celebration. "They have someone to relate to," she said on the show. "There are so many people that loved what Vicki did," she said. "And there were people that didn't like it. And that's just the way of life. But you have a choice. We haven't had a choice before." As Sparks broke one gender boundary at the World Cup, other women encountered persistent barriers to the simple execution of their jobs. Over the weekend, a Brazilian journalist, Julia Guimaraes, was presenting outside of the Senegal-Japan game in Yekaterinburg, a Russian city east of the Ural Mountains, when a man bounded up to her and attempted to kiss her. She successfully dodged him, and then proceeded to lecture him about respecting women. "Don't do this," she said. "Never do this again, OK? Don't do this. I don't allow you to do that." The man can be heard apologising off-screen. Guimaraes, a reporter for Brazil's TV Globo/SporTV, said on Twitter that this was not the first time she had been harassed during the World Cup in Russia. "Fortunately, I have never experienced this in Brazil!" she wrote. Other instances of harassment have similarly been captured on video. Julieth Gonzalez Theran, a Colombian journalist, was in the middle of a live report for Deutsche Welle's Spanish channel on opening day of the World Cup when a man approached her, grabbing her breast and kissing her on the cheek. She continued her broadcast but later said, "We do not deserve this treatment." DW posted a video of the incident online, adding, "Sexual harassment is not OK. It needs to stop. In football, and elsewhere." Some took a different view of the man's behaviour, with one Twitter user responding that "people are simply overfilled with joy." "Sorry, but no," DW responded. "Kissing someone against their will is sexual harassment. Groping a woman's breast while she's busy doing her job is sexual harassment." The international broadcaster said the man in question had come forward and apologised to Gonzalez Theran via Skype. * In the Sunday Star-Times, Olivia Caldwell writes about how New Zealand women sports commentators fare.<doc-sep>"When we went live, this fan took advantage of the situation," she said. "But afterwards, when I checked to see if he was still there, he was gone."<doc-sep>
VICKI SPARKS made British television history this afternoon by becoming the first female lead commentator for a World Cup match. The BBC reporter sat alongside Martin Keown in the commentary box for Portugal's 1-0 win over Morocco in Group B at the Luzhniki Stadium. 3 Vicki Sparks led the commentary team for Portgual vs Morocco alongside Martin Keown Credit: Rex Features While she is the first female to commentate on a live match at the tournament, there are a host of other women working in various roles for BBC and ITV, including former England internationals Eniola Aluko and Alex Scott. Sparks is often heard on BBC's Final Score and Radio Five Live, and has already covered the highlights for Iran's victory over Morocco last week. But she made history as the first woman to take the lead role in the commentary box at a World Cup match for British TV, 11 years after Jacqui Oatley completed the same feat for Match of the Day. And she did not have to wait long to celebrate the first goal, with Cristiano Ronaldo heading home for Portugal after just four minutes. 3 Vicki Sparks has also worked on Final Score and BBC's Radio Five Live Credit: Facebook The Real Madrid forward's strike was met with Sparks saying: "Wouldn't you just know it." Her new role marks another momentous occasion for women in media, with several attending as presenters and pundits. Oatley is in Russia presenting for ITV with Juventus striker Aluko one of their pundits. Meanwhile, ex-Arsenal Ladies defender Scott is working with the BBC, along with Gabby Logan. 3 Vicki Sparks was making history in Russia, becoming the first female commentator to take the lead of a World Cup match for British TV Credit: Twitter Sparks has previously made headlines for comments directed at her by then-Sunderland boss David Moyes. The former West Ham manager: "It was getting a wee bit naughty at the end there so just watch yourself. "You still might get a slap even though you're a woman. Careful the next time you come in." He apologised and was fined £30,000 by the FA. Most read in World Cup NO HARD FEELINGS Man dumped by Gareth Southgate's wife insists he holds no grudge 'i want a girl' England star Kyle Walker's model girlfriend reveals she wants FOURTH baby ON THE PLANE Who is Seema Jaswal, how old is ITV World Cup presenter and is she married?