Materazzi wins damages case

November 3, 2008

Italy and Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi has won damages from the Daily Mail newspaper after claims by the paper that he has racial abusive comments to Zinedine Zidane during the 2006 World Cup Final between Franc e and Italy. The amount awarded to the player is undisclosed.

Zidane head butted Materazzi in the chest and the newspaper claimed Materazzi had called the French international “the son of a terrorist whore”

Materazzi was not in London for the settlement of the case but his counsel Jane Philips said that there were a series of articles run by the newspaper that claimed that Materazzi had used vile racist abuse during the match but that this was wholly untrue. Ms Phillips said the newspaper accepted all of the allegations were wholly untrue and that there was no question of Materazzi having said anything of a racist nature to Zidane such as to goad him.

Zidane has been asked what the abuse was that made him react in such a way but has refused to specify claiming only that it was about his mother however Materazzi later stated that Zidane’s sister was the subject.

“I was tugging his shirt, he said to me ‘if you want my shirt so much I’ll give it to you afterwards,’ and I answered that I’d prefer his sister,” he said.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.