Pat Nevin has apologised after the BBC found that he had breached editorial standards with his comments during Celtic's dramatic title decider against Hearts on the final day of last season.
Martin O'Neill's men fought from a goal down to defeat the Jambos 3-1 and lift the title, and thousands of Hoops fans spilled onto the pitch following Callum Osmand's decisive goal.
Commentary claim
Former Chelsea, Everton and Scotland star Nevin was on commentary duty for BBC Radio 5 Live on the day, and accused 'two or three' Celtic fans of punching the then Tynecastle skipper Lawrence Shankland.
Those remarks sparked outrage from listeners of the station, and following an investigation by the national broadcasters, Nevin has been forced to issue an apology after his claims were found to be untrue.
Apology and BBC statement
In a BBC newsletter, the 63-year-old said: "I made a mistake in a commentary at the end of the last game of the Scottish season."
"From my angle in the gantry I thought I saw a punch thrown, but it appears it was a confrontation or maybe just goading from one of the hundreds of Celtic fans who invaded the pitch just before the end of the game.
"Goading is not physical violence and I will take it on the chin, the way the Hearts player probably didn’t. My apologies to those offended."
A statement from the BBC read: "During a pitch invasion towards the end of the Hearts v Celtic match, the commentator Pat Nevin said two or three Celtic fans had punched the Hearts captain. Two listeners complained this was untrue.
"The scenes at the end of the match were chaotic, and Mr Nevin and his co-commentators were trying to give listeners an impression of events as they unfolded, with no opportunity for verification before speaking.
"Mr Nevin subsequently acknowledged that he should not have stated definitively that the Hearts captain had been punched by Celtic fans.
"The ECU accepted that this was an honest error made in the heat of the moment, but concluded that it fell below the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
"The finding was reported to the management of BBC Sport. On his own initiative, Mr Nevin apologised for the error on air on two occasions, and again in his BBC Sport newsletter."
