Arsenal and England soccer player Ashley Cole is suing two tabloid newspapers which published articles allegedly linking him to a ”gay orgy”.
Cole’s lawyer, Graham Shear, said Friday the suit accuses The Sun and News of the World of defamation, harassment and breach of privacy — even though the articles did not name the player.
The suit was filed in London’s High Court.
In a story published on February 12, the News of the World claimed two Premier League soccer players were involved in a homosexual act.
The story did not name the players allegedly involved but rumors spread on the internet that Cole was one of them.
The News of the World published a follow-up story on February 19 and similar allegations appeared in The Sun.
”These proceedings were commenced because these newspapers published false and offensive articles designed to tell readers that Ashley had behaved in what the News of the World described as a ‘perverted’ way with other professional footballers,” Shear said.
”The newspapers knew there was no basis to name Ashley but arranged the articles and pictures in such a way that readers would identify him. There is no truth whatever in these allegations.
Ashley Cole will not tolerate this kind of cowardly journalism or let it go unchallenged.
Shear said Cole (25) should not have to deal with ”this kind of unpleasant insinuation and innuendo at a time” ahead of his scheduled wedding to pop singer Cheryl Tweedy and this summer’s World Cup in Germany.
”These proceedings will be vigorously and actively pursued,” Shear said.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he didn’t think Cole would be distracted by the lawsuit.
”He wants to clear his name because he feels there have been some wrong rumors, and I can understand that,” Wenger said. ”Nobody likes to read these sorts of rumors in the newspapers about himself.
”But unfortunately we are in a job where sometimes you have to face that, and you have to show mental strength. I feel that he is focused on his job, on doing well and recovering quickly.”
Wenger said Cole had always shown mental strength under pressure.
”He has never shown any weaknesses when he was in the public eye for negative reasons sometimes,” Wenger said. ”When there have been things that might have distracted him, he has always shown remarkable focus on the game.” – Sapa-AP