Materazzi sues for libel

In a world gone mad, you can always count on Marco Materazzi to brighten your day – in this case by suing three English newspapers for libel, on the grounds that they never retracted any stories claiming that the famous Zidane headbutting incident was triggered by remarks about mothers or terrorism (or terrorist mothers…).

BBC NEWS | UK | Materazzi issues World Cup writs

Materazzi is seeking damages at the High Court from the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star over claims about what the Italian had said to Zidane. His lawyer, Steven Heffer, said: “He is taking legal action to clear his name.” Mr 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.

I wonder if this counts as a tricky one, from a legal standpoint, inasmuch as Materazzi is not claiming that there was no provocation – but instead that he was talking about Zidane’s sister, not his mother. Admitting to general ass-hattery might be a cunning plan indeed; no-one would believe that there was no provocation, but challenging papers on the grounds that they misrepresented what kind of a jackass you are could be a winner.