England
Newspaper made to pay damages to athletePosted Dec 17 2008
London’s Daily Mail paid libel damages to Italian soccer player Marco Materazzi for false reports regarding a statement made to French player Zinedin Zidane during the 2006 World Cup final, The Guardian reports.
The Mail alleged that Zidane was provoked by “vile racist abuse” when he struck Materazzi with a head-butt during the game and ran numerous stories covering the incident, including a front-page story entitled, “Revealed: The insult that made Zidane see red.”
Materazzi launched action against the Mail following the publication of the articles. He did admit to insulting Zidane but denied racially abusing him.
Materazzi had already won damages from newspapers the Sun and the Daily Star relating to similar racist allegations. The Mail offered substantial damages and apologies just days before a five-day trial was set to begin last month.