Fox faces backlash for using Shakira in Copa America promo

The national teams of Argentina and Colombia will face off in the 2024 Copa America final. The Fox TV station promotes the broadcast with graphics featuring Lionel Messi and Shakira. Viewers noticed that this was disrespectful to the players from Colombia.

Sure, Shakira is Colombian and will perform at the Copa America final, but she won't compete on the field for the trophy; she will sing before the match.

American TV station Fox decided to attract more viewers by promoting the match with images of Lionel Messi from Argentina and Shakira from Colombia. They omitted any Colombian soccer players.

The most famous representative of Colombia is currently James Rodriguez. He was the hero of the World Cup and played for Real Madrid, but he can't match the popularity of Lionel Messi or Shakira, especially in the United States, where soccer is not the most popular sport, and the average fan has little knowledge about soccer players.

Nonetheless, TV station Fox was criticized on social media. Some called such promotion of the match disrespectful to the players from Colombia. "Everything's fine, but it's still a soccer match, not a music festival," wrote one fan.

The Colombian national team can prove on the night from Sunday to Monday Eastern Time that they can create a soccer show and step out of the singer's shadow. Argentina will be their opponent in the Copa America final.

Shakira has performed the World Cup anthem in South Africa in the past. In the soccer community, she is also known as the long-term partner of Gerard Pique, the FC Barcelona and Spanish national team defender.