Spain’s national television broadcaster has sacked its director of sports for censoring jeering during the national anthem before the national cup final.

Julian Reyes chose to show reporters in Bilbao and Barcelona instead of the events at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium, which King Juan Carlos was attending.

TVE later replayed the anthem at half-time, blaming “human error”, but this time with the booing edited out.

On Thursday, TVE said Mr Reyes had taken responsibility for the incident.

The broadcaster’s directors also said an investigation would be launched into why it had repeatedly blamed human error for not showing the anthem live.

Supporters of both Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao were said to be responsible for the boos, jeers and whistles which greeted the anthem on Wednesday night. Barcelona eventually won the Copa del Rey 4-1.

The clubs hail from Catalonia and the Basque Country, two provinces which have demanded greater regional autonomy in recent years. (Via BBC)