Swiss broadcaster SRF has apologised for adding fake crowd noise to try and liven up its coverage of Sunday's Zurich derby, which kicked off in a near deserted stadium.

Viewers of the edited highlights were baffled to hear chanting at the start of the FC Zurich-Grasshoppers game even though pictures showed that almost nobody was present in the Letzigrund stadium for kickoff due to a protest by fans.

"In order to make the report as attractive as possible, the chants of the fans were subsequently edited into highlights of the game," SRF said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The decision was taken under great time pressure. It was wrong, we apologise for it. Manipulation of sounds or images is not allowed."

Fans of both teams agreed to enter the stadium 10 minutes after the start of the match in protest at tighter security measures aimed at combating hooliganism.

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