Shay Given offers apology after saying 'Holocaust' on football results show

Shay Given has issued an unreserved apology for the use of the word "Holocaust" live on BBC this afternoon.

The former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper was a guest on Final Score, where a panel of experts run through football results from the FA Cup and other leagues.

The Lifford native was commenting on Wilfried Nancy's brief managerial stint at Celtic, which lasted 33 days and included six losses from eight games. Nancy had taken over from interim manager Martin O’Neill, who had won seven from eight, in December, before taking over in Glasgow again last week following the sacking of Nancy.

“Nancy was terrible from start to finish” Given said. “I don't think they should have ended Martin's (O'Neill's) short tenure at the start. It was the week leading up to the Hearts game, top of the league clash, then Roma in the Europa League and St Mirren in the League Cup final, I thought Martin should have been given that week at least. Nancy took over that week and had an absolute Holocaust in that week and it was just a nightmare from then on. The defeats and Rangers last weekend was the final straw, the final nail in the coffin.”

Given has this evening shared his apology on social media and will be giving his day’s wages to a Holocaust charity.

“On live television this afternoon, I used a word that I didn't fully understand the meaning of, and certainly won't ever use again,” he posted. “We all have areas of ignorance in our knowledge, and I hope to use this as an opportunity to become better educated going forward. I am genuinely mortified and apologise unreservedly to everyone offended, and will be donating my fee from today's show to the Holocaust Educational Trust.”

The Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and mass murder of 6,000,000 European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945.

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