Was goal blackout sabotage? Bookmakers gave odds on break in ITV transmission that let fans miss England score

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A betting scam may have been behind ITV's embarrassing failure to screen England's first goal of the World Cup on its high-definition channel.

A car advert interrupted coverage for 1.5million viewers just before Steven Gerrard scored in Saturday night's group game against the U.S.

When the action resumed, the England players were already celebrating their fourth-minute lead.

The break in coverage would have paid off for gamblers that took up Paddy Power's odds of 8-1 that an ITV live game would be interrupted.

The fact that HDTV broadcasts are screened four seconds later than conventional TV also fuelled conspiracy theories.

A saboteur could have seen England score on a regular TV channel and then pulled the plug to take advantage of the fact an HD viewer would not have known England were ahead.

Adrian Chiles, who was presenting ITV's coverage, apologised at half time for the glitch which came three minutes and 26 seconds into the game.

Chiles, who was poached by ITV from the BBC in a multi-million pound deal, said: 'Apologies for those watching in HD, I believe there was some interruption in your coverage.'

The social networking site Twitter was quickly flooded with complaints from irate viewers.

One poster, Sheffield_UK, wrote: 'ITV black out the England goal and spoil the whole evening.'

Another, called Paul-Durand, said: 'ITV HD is a joke. First England goal of the World Cup, and there was a Hyundai advert on.'

ITV yesterday said it believed human error at Technicolor, an outside company, was to blame.

An ITV spokesman said: 'ITV Sport's production team in South Africa, who have produced high quality coverage throughout the tournament, were in no way responsible.'

Richard Cross, ITV's group technology director, said: 'We apologise unreservedly to viewers for the unacceptable interruption to high-definition coverage of the match.

'We met with Technicolor first thing this morning to put in place measures to address the issue and to ensure that Technicolor takes the appropriate action with immediate effect.'

ITV's technical competence was questioned last year when it failed to show the crucial winning goal at the end of a tense FA Cup tie between Everton and Liverpool.

The channel switched to an automated ad break as eventual finalists Everton scored the winning goal in the 118th minute against their Merseyside rivals.

The former chairman of ITV, Michael Grade, was forced to issue an apology for the 'inexcusable glitch' and 'unprecedented transmission error'.

He added: 'We're still trying to figure out how it happened and there may be a few yellow and red cards following this.'

Of the latest howler, a spokesman for Paddy Power said it had taken around a dozen bets, mainly of £5 and £10, on the coverage being interrupted.

He added: 'We didn't think we would have to pay out as soon as the first England match.'

The World Cup was seen as a key test for the HD technology - with broadcasting watchdog Ofcom promising the biggest development in sport coverage since the 1970 World Cup was screened in colour.

ITV is to broadcast 32 live games through the tournament including England's next game against Algeria at 7.30pm on Friday.

The BBC will screen the final group game against Slovenia, then it will have the pick of the round of 16 and quarter-final games.

If England reach the semi-final, both channels will show the game and both will show the final.

Technicolor spokesman Suzanne Munton said yesterday: 'This error originated from the London playout centre where Technicolor provides broadcast television playout services on behalf of ITV plc.

'Technicolor deeply regrets this incident and its impact on ITV and its viewers. Investigations are continuing as a matter of the utmost urgency in order to ensure the issues are addressed with immediate effect.'

England fans were left down-hearted at the team's capitulation with the thoughts of many now turning to the next game.

Dave Patterson, 50, from Nottingham, said: 'The atmosphere was fantastic to start with but it dampened a little bit when they scored.

'England were the better team but the goal knocked the stuffing out of them.'

David Yarwood, 24, from Oxford, said: 'We started brightly but gifted them a goal and it went downhill from there.

'But we never do well at the start. We never make it easy for ourselves.

'But at the end of the day if we can't beat teams like Algeria and Slovenia we don't deserve to be here.'

Some of the South Africans supporting England were less impressed with the performance.

One summed it up: 'The atmosphere was good but the football was poor.'

Shadow energy secretary and Labour leadership candidate Ed Miliband got in on the act describing Green's blunder as the 'unfortunate incident of the American goal'.

He told Sky News' Sunday Live: 'I don't think we should give up hope at all in this World Cup campaign. In 1966, we drew our first match, against Uruguay I think it was.

'We have every chance of winning this World Cup and we should be proud of what our team is doing. We should keep right behind them in this campaign.'