blogging it real

Zidane says Materazzi insulted mother and sister
7.00am Thursday July 13, 2006
By Pierre Serisier
PARIS - Zinedine Zidane today confirmed on French national television that Italian defender Marco Materazzi insulted his mother and his sister during the World Cup final against Italy.

The French captain reacted to the insult by head-butting Materazzi's chest in the second period of extra time of the match. He was sent off.

"He (Materazzi) pronounced very tough words about my mother and my sister. I tried not to listen to him but he kept repeating them," Zidane said in a live interview on French television channel Canal Plus.

Zidane offered an apology to all children and to all fans for his behaviour but he said he did not regret it.

"This was not something to do. I want to make it clear because it was watched by two billion people and by millions of kids," Zidane said.

"I want to apologise to them but I can't regret what I did because it would mean that he (Materazzi) was right to say what he said."...

Zidane denied Materazzi called him an Islamic "terrorist", as was reported by a Paris-based anti-racism group...

FIFA decided on Tuesday to open a disciplinary investigation to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident and Sepp Blatter, the chairman of the soccer's ruling body, hinted that Zidane could be stripped of the tournament's best player award.

However:

"Materazzi also said that he would never insult someone's mother because he thinks a mother is sacrosanct".

This is a bit like Wayne Rooney saying he didn't deliberately step on his opponent when he was sent off.

Somebody really needs to take that boy aside and help him grow up like a normal person. It was so obvious that it was deliberate that it's not funny. Yet another pathological liar in world sport? We've already got enough thanks.

**********

And what's with all the elderly people being mugged and/or raped and/or murdered in New Zealand? Nice healthy society we have isn't it when we target the most vulnerable.