Mark Pougatch has accused the of twisting the truth about the way he left the broadcaster six years ago, saying the decision to move him on was theirs, not his. The row has surfaced again just as the 58-year-old prepares to front ITV's World Cup coverage from the United States.

In 2020, the announced that Pougatch and other presenters were leaving, saying he had decided to move on. He now says that was not how it happened. “The have decided they want to go in a different direction and that’s their prerogative. They decided it, not me,” he said, adding that he did not know why the statement said he had chosen to leave.

His comments landed because he is about to return to a major international stage. Pougatch will work alongside Laura Woods on ITV's World Cup coverage, with the broadcaster’s studio in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan behind him, while much of the 's coverage will come from its base in Salford.

The dispute cuts to a small but public point of pride for a presenter who spent years at Radio 5 Live before becoming one of ITV's leading sports voices. Pougatch said he did not want to fall out with 5 Live and thanked listeners, friends and colleagues for their messages, saying he had had a “phenomenal time” at the station.

That is also where the friction sits: the told the world he had decided to move on, while Pougatch says it was the broadcaster that chose to go in another direction. Jeff Stelling backed him online, saying his professionalism would be replaced by someone seen as more in touch with “the youth of today,” a jibe that underlined how personal the departure still looks six years later.

Pougatch is now focused on the summer ahead, when he will lead ITV's coverage from the United States and try to make the studio feel immediate rather than remote. “Our studio is in Brooklyn with Lower Manhattan over my shoulder,” he said. “It will look spectacular, and I genuinely believe by being there we can absorb the rhythms of the place, right at the heart of it.”