Zidane incident

[Al-khiyal]

July 5, 2007 -- Almost one year after the head-butt heard ‘round the world, Italian footballer (soccer player for those of you on this side of the Atlantic) Marco Materazzi is suing for libel against three different newspapers in the UK.

In the final match of the 2006 World Cup last summer, French legend Zinedine Zidane head-butted Materazzi in the chest, knocking the Italian to the ground after Materazzi had insulted him.

In the aftermath of the hit, Zidane was red-carded out of the game (which some argue lead to Italy’s victory) and given a three-match ban by FIFA (the governing body of world soccer), while Materazzi received a two-match ban and a fine. Both faced severe criticism from the public at large for their behavior. But more important than the official repercussions was the question being asked in pubs and living rooms all over the world: What on earth did Materazzi actually say to Zidane?

Zidane refused to comment to the press and rumors flew, with Italian lip readers claiming that Materazzi had insulted Zidane’s Algerian-born mother.

Recently however, Materazzi has come forward and divulged that in actuality, the insult was to Zidane’s sister, not his mother. Because of this drastically significant difference, Materazzi is suing the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star for libel for their mistaken reporting.

Materazzi’s lawyer told the BBC that "Marco has suffered enormous damage to his reputation as a result of the press reports," and that “he is left with no alternative as all three newspapers have failed to correct or apologise for their false reports of the incident.”

Clearly, Materazzi’s reputation would not have been nearly as damaged had we all known from the beginning that he’d made crude comments about Zidane’s sister and not his mother. Whether or not you believe Zidane’s reaction was justified, this detail of who Materazzi actually insulted is marginal at best. Sorry Materazzi, but hopefully your case will get thrown out by the British courts. Perhaps another head-butt is needed to get your head back on straight.

Butting in: Materazzi goes to court

[Bent_Bladi]

What's he sueing for?! He has all the money in the world... and even if he didn't diss Zidane's mother, he still dissed his sister.... why would that small change help his reputation