Controversial sports host Huang leaves CCTV

BEIJING—China’s well-known sportscaster Huang Jianxian formally resigned from China Central Television (CCTV), according to a sports newspaper Soccer report on Tuesday. A reliable source said Huang’s new post would be as channel director of Shanghai Dragon TV, run by the Shanghai Media Group.
Huang was dropped from the CCTV top ten sportscasters list after his outburst during the Italy/Australia match during the World Cup, leading to rumors of a feud between CCTV and Huang. Huang’s controversial comments came after Italy’s Fabio Grosso went down after a challenge in the last minutes of the game, allowing Francesco Totti a penalty kick that scored and won Italy the game.
(Huang, who the next day apologized for “inappropriate comments that upset and hurt the audience,” said afterwards the hoarse outburst was just “a technical mistake.” But Huang didn’t think he stepped too far over the line, according to an interview he had with Xinhua News Agency. Since the incident, Huang’s famously passionate sportscasts have been notably less enthusiastic and rumors circulated about his possible dismissal.
Many Chinese football fans say they prefer his style to CCTV’s traditional drab commentary that emphasizes accuracy and neutrality. A dozen short films mocking his passionate, straight-talking commentary are now popular online and has become the Web spoofs, but Huang shrugs them off as merely “the price for being famous.”
The commentator is leaving CCTV to pursue his future career choice, an anonymous source said. Not willing to be at the center of the media spotlight once again, both Huang and CCTV are reluctant to publicly refer to the resignation, but have come to an agreement in private.—Agencies