The move did not go down well after the live broadcast.
‘Everything is in safe hands,’ posted BT Sport presenter Des Kelly as he posted a pre-match picture alongside Peter Schmeichel on Saturday afternoon. Little did he know…
It was the calm before the footballing storm that would rumble on that evening at Ataturk Stadium, before Manchester City beat Inter 1-0 to bask in that winning sunlight. Little did Kelly know that he would be copping it from football fans watching the live coverage.
As part of his pitch-side brief, Kelly gets to head onto the field of play after the final whistle – for big games – and get some interviews and reactions. He caught up with City captain Ilkay Gündagon and, after a breezy chat, ended by asking the Germany international to sign his accreditation arm-band.
“Could you sign this armband?” Kelly asked, “I’m getting an enormous amount of stick, on Twitter, for wearing it. I have to wear it to get on the pitch but everyone thinks I’m the new John Terry, or something.
“This is a memento that I’ll keep forever. Ilkay, good man.”
https://twitter.com/ElliottBinks/status/1667646405027012608
Des Kelly on the autographed armband
You did not have to look far on social media, on Saturday night, to see Des Kelly getting called out and bemoaned for the autograph request.
The BT presenter can often be very pally with interviewees and perhaps his line ‘a memento that I’ll keep forever’ convinced some/many that the armband was going on his mantel-piece, back home.
It emerged, then, that Kelly had asked for the City captain’s scribble as part of a benevolent gesture. He explained:
‘The armband kindly signed by Man City’s Treble-winning captain İlkay Gündoğan on TV tonight is to auctioned online for Royal National College For The Blind. Details to follow soon.’
The armband kindly signed by Man City's Treble-winning captain İlkay Gündoğan on TV tonight is to auctioned online for Royal National College For The Blind. Details to follow soon. @ManCity pic.twitter.com/HH59V4KlvP
— Des Kelly (@TheDesKelly) June 10, 2023
‘This is an amazing gesture,” declared the RNC, ‘Thanks so much for supporting the work of our charity – we’re over the moon.’
Let’s hope the signed armband picks up a nice auction price and the money does some good.
As for Ilkay Gündagon, the 32-year-old is being linked with a summer switch to Barcelona but told reporters, “I have not made a final decision on my future yet.”
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