A photographer had his $5,800 (£4,500) camera and lens obliterated by an errant ball during a soccer game in England this weekend.
Footage of the incident, shared by the BBC, has gone viral on social media showing Brighton player Carlos Baleba hitting the camera and photographer Phil Duncan’s apparent reaction afterward.
The cameraman was not pleased 😬
Carlos Baleba’s shot destroyed this camera 😳#FACup pic.twitter.com/lpVUITbwuC
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 29, 2025
It looks as if Duncan is angry about the incident. But PetaPixel has spoken to the sports photographer via his picture agency Every Second Media and the clip on social media is deceptive.
In the footage of Duncan holding his camera and lens, he is actually saying “In ten years, this has never happened.”
“He wasn’t complaining,” Ellie Hoad from Every Second Media tells PetaPixel. “The footage is misleading.”
The incident came just before half time during Saturday’s FA Cup clash between Premier League teams Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest.
The damaged camera is a Canon 5D Mark III and the lens is a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8. The glass was ripped away from the mount and it is “smashed to bits,” according to Hoad.
Fortunately, the camera is insured and Duncan has already submitted a claim.
Despite social media users lamenting that it was a “dumb place to leave a camera”, photographers have been leaving cameras behind the goal at soccer games in England for a long time. The remote cameras are operated via a trigger attached to camera in the photographer’s hands and are positioned to capture goalmouth action.
Incidents like this one are rare and Duncan was unlucky that Baleba’s ferocious shot found his Canon instead of the back of the net.
Image credits: Courtest of the BBC and Every Second Media.
