Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi has begun legal proceedings against three British papers he claims libelled him after the 2006 World Cup final. The Inter Milan centre-back is seeking damages from The Sun, Daily Star and Daily Mail over their reports of insults he made to Zinedine Zidane.
His lawyer, Stephen Heffer, said: “Heffer added: “Marco Materazzi is issuing claims in the High Court against three newspapers, the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star for damages for libel and an injunction. He is left with no alternative as all three newspapers have failed to correct or apologise for their false reports of the incident. Marco has suffered enormous damage to his reputation as a result of the press reports.” Materazzi has claimed his comments referred to Zidane’s sister, and not terrorism, Muslims or prostitute mothers as various papers claimed at the time.