{"id":3148,"date":"2026-06-28T06:35:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T06:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3148"},"modified":"2026-06-28T06:35:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T06:35:51","slug":"la-reporter-faces-backlash-over-insensitive-bosnia-comments-during-viral-world-cup-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3148","title":{"rendered":"LA reporter faces backlash over \u2018insensitive\u2019 Bosnia comments during viral World Cup report"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

An award-winning California news reporter faced backlash for her \u201cinsensitive\u201d comments towards Bosnia-Herzegovina during her World Cup coverage, forcing her to apologize for taking the joke \u201ctoo far.\u201d<\/p>\n

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ABC7 Los Angeles\u2019 Abigail Velez was covering the US national team\u2019s match at a viewing party on the streets of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, when she updated viewers on America\u2019s next opponent after the 3-2 loss to Turkey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next round, Team USA will play Bosnia next Wednesday and one thing about Bosnia, I could not point out where it is on a map,\u201d Velez quipped. \u201cI don\u2019t know the first thing about Bosnia and I don\u2019t want to know because Team USA, we\u2019re back, we\u2019re better than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Velez, who has been with the station since November 2025, doubled down and told the southeastern European nation to get ready for battle against the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s next Wednesday. Get prepared, Bosnia, because you don\u2019t want it, you don\u2019t want it like that, but you\u2019re gonna get it. That\u2019s next Wednesday,\u201d she said before tossing the report back to the station.<\/p>\n

Bosnian fans were quick to call out Velez for the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goodness, the stereotypes write themselves\u2026\u2026\u201d X account Bosnian Football wrote, alongside a clip of Velez\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome competitive talk is always fun, but that\u2019s not the way to do it,\u201d another user wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe weirdest things about Americans is that they feel it\u2019s like a flex to say \u201cI don\u2019t even know where they are on a map,\u201d a third said.<\/p>\n

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Velez apologized on Saturday for \u201cpoor effort to have a little fun,\u201d explaining the segment was supposed to be a light-hearted report that got out of hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a poor effort to have a little fun with World Cup competition, I took it too far and made a thoughtless comment on air that was insensitive and inappropriate,\u201d Velez wrote on X. \u201cI apologize to the people of Bosnia and the Bosnian Football team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe World Cup is supposed to be about uniting communities around the world, and my comment didn\u2019t reflect that spirit,\u201d she added. \u201cWishing all the teams the very best as they continue their World Cup journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

USMNT and Bosnia-Herzegovina will meet at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

The US finished group play 2-0-1, finishing on top of the Group D table with 6 points and earning the group\u2019s number one spot.<\/p>\n

Bosnia finished third in Group B play with four points after going 1-1-1, but qualified for the knock-out round after being one of the best third-place teams.<\/p>\n

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ABC7 Los Angeles’ award-winning journalist Abigail Velez, who has been with the station since November 2025, was at a viewing party on the streets of Long Beach, Calif., covering the US national team\u2019s match when she updated viewers on America’s next opponent after the 3-2 loss to Turkey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nLA reporter faces backlash over \u2018insensitive\u2019 Bosnia comments during viral World Cup report - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3148\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LA reporter faces backlash over \u2018insensitive\u2019 Bosnia comments during viral World Cup report - 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