TV director fired after anthem censorship

MADRID (AP) -Spain's national TV broadcaster fired its sports director on Thursday after the station censored jeering and whistling during the national anthem at the Copa del Rey final a day earlier.

Many of the 45,000 spectators at Valencia's Mestalla stadium drowned out the anthem with jeers and whistles, and the state channel cut away from the scenes to go to live reporters in Bilbao and Barcelona. It later replayed the anthem at halftime, but with the jeering edited out.

The broadcaster said that Julian Reyes, director for sports, had left the company as a result of the incident and that an investigation would be launched after the broadcaster repeatedly blamed "human error'' for the incident on Wednesday.

The clubs represent two of Spain's more autonomous provinces, and King Juan Carlos' arrival at the Mestalla was also greeted with jeers.

Barcelona won its record 25th domestic cup with a 4-1 victory.