David Basheer is an Australian sports commentator and presenter. He is best known for presenting football (soccer) commentary, in particular on The World Game on television network SBS from 2007 to 2018. Basheer was engaged by the Seven Network to commentate the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Basheer attended Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, South Australia, from 1975 to 1983, where he played cricket and football. In Year 11, he established a radio station at the school. [1]
He obtained a Diploma of Audio Engineering at SAE Institute Adelaide campus. [2]
Before starting in broadcasting, Basheer did audio mixing of commercials at Adelaide radio station 5AD. [2]
Basheer's career in radio broadcasting started in 1986 at Adelaide radio station 5AA, where he worked as talkback producer, announcer, and sports reporter. In 1988, he won a cadetship with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as a sports broadcaster, where he started commentating on not only cricket (Sheffield Shield final and test matches) and football (National Soccer League), but also AFL and harness racing. After this he moved to Network Ten's Adelaide studios for two years before being hired by SBS in 1995. There he covered football as well as athletics and cycling events. [1]
In between working for SBS, Basheer was also a host and commentator with ESPN Star Sports in Asia (UEFA Champions League, La Liga, Formula 1, and the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan). [3] [1] He has also worked for a variety of other international broadcasters, commentating at Olympic Football finals, athletics at the Commonwealth Games Athletics, and various tennis tournaments (French Open, Japan Open, China Open, Australian Open) for them. [1]
Basheer appeared on The World Game from 2007 to 2018, [3] following the departure of former host Andrew Orsatti. Alongside Les Murray, Basheer hosted SBS's coverage of the European Championships in 2008 and 2012.[ citation needed ]
In 2013, Basheer's football coverage moved exclusively to SBS, where he formed a commentary partnership with Michael Bridges for A-League Men games. From 2013 to 2017, SBS held the broadcasting rights for one A-League match per round, held on Friday nights, which was simulcast on Fox Sports. In 2014, he lent his voice to the commentary of the cricket video game Don Bradman Cricket 14. David also has extensive commentary experience covering major international events including 5 Olympic Games, 4 Commonwealth Games, Tour de France, World Championships of Athletics and several Grand Slam Tennis events. [3] [4]
At FIFA's showpiece event, the World Cup, Basheer was SBS's lead commentator in the 2010 (where he was the first Australian to cover a World Cup final, between Spain and the Netherlands. [5] ), 2014 and 2018 tournaments, becoming the first Australian to commentate a World Cup final in 2010 between Spain and the Netherlands. Basheer returned for the 2022 FIFA World Cup alongside Martin Tyler, Niav Owens, Sarah Walsh, Mark Bosnich, Richard Bayliss and former full-time SBS pundit Craig Foster. [6] [2]
Basheer was a co-commentator on the world feed for the 2016 Summer Olympics football events, providing coverage for the official Olympics channel in the final between Brazil and Germany at the Maracanã Stadium.[ citation needed ]
In July 2023, Basheer provided FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 commentary for Channel 7, along with seven others (three men and five women in total). [7] After the opening game between the Matildas and Ireland, he was criticised on Twitter for making what was perceived by some as a sexist comment about Matildas player Katrina Gorry, when he offered praise for her performance which included the words "Certainly motherhood has not blunted her competitive instincts". [8]
Basheer's old school, PAC, recognised him by adding him to their gallery of "Princes Men". [1]
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