A Good Morning Britain reporter has been criticised for using a Germany flag to wipe down the bar of a pub on live TV after the country crashed out of the World Cup.
Katy Rickitt faced a fierce backlash online following a segment about the tournament filmed at a pub in Jarrow, near Newcastle.
She said that the German flag had been torn down at the pub following their historic exit at the hands of South Korea on Wednesday.
“I get to hold that flag, and it will be used as a bar rag for the rest of the day,” reported Mrs Rickitt.
She then scrunched it up and pretended to wipe beer from the bar.
But the stunt did not go down well with viewers of the ITV show, with some branding Mrs Rickitts a “disgrace”.
One tweeted: “Couldn’t believe my eyes with the disrespect shown to Germany this morning using their country’s flag as a bar rag.”
Another added: “Not clever and she should apologise, disgusting. We wouldn't like it if they did it to us.”
Twitter user Jean Dalton wrote: “Disappointed to see the German Flag being torn down and being used to wipe the bar down. It’s no wonder that other countries don’t like us when we show such disrespect for other counties flags (sic).”
Another said: “If that was in reverse there would be outcry.”
Mrs Rickitt later issued an apology, stating: “To anyone offended by the German flag this morning I sincerely apologise.
“Was just talking about the fact all flags are taken down as teams lose at the pub, if anyone saw any disrespect it was entirely unintentional.”
It comes after football fans across the UK and the world rejoiced at Germany’s early exit from the Russia World Cup following a 2-0 defeat to South Korea.
It means the 2014 champions have failed to make it out of the tournament’s group stage for the first time since 1938.
