Tony Formosa • January 11 2004

Venom, gossip and dirty stories

The media is governed by a code of ethics and a number of rules and different Acts. Intelligent articles, constructive criticism, investigative journalism, different opinions, current affairs, news items, cattiness, gossip and dirty stories fill volumes and columns on end. It is a known fact that tabloids are more popular than broadsheets and scandals sell.
I have my doubts whether an interview with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former general with a distinguished and proven record attracted wider readership than the British tabloids’ revelations on debauched antics that allegedly took place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel last September, when a 17-year old was allegedly raped by four assailants.
The story that appeared in the columns of the highest-selling newspaper in the UK, The Sun could hardly be compared with the interview in the NY daily.
Readers do have different tastes.
The story that two known footballers and two pals ‘roasted’ a poor girl is shocking but it appeals to the lower instincts of the masses.
A catch-line: ‘at one point she was having sex with three men at once.’ Another quote from a legal expert summed up the shocking details of the notorious scenes that happened in Room 316. He was quoted as saying, "the 17-year-old girl who had just left convent school was treated like a piece of meat to boost the egos of the gang. What happened to her was incredibly sordid. To say that these young men had the morals of an alley cat would be unfair to alley cats. They would make an alley cat blush with what they got up to!"
Such was their debased session in the luxurious room.

Popular pages and celebs
To state that scandals, involving celebrities and an orgy triggered by a scantily dressed girl looking for adventure, is the type of trash certain types of people love to read, is just repeating the obvious.
We all know that shocking news and sport pages are more popular than parliamentary debates and repeated reports on goodwill visits.
The ‘roasting’ at Grosvenor House Hotel took limitless proportions because the alleged assailants included two Premier League players, namely Titus Bramble, 29 of Newcastle and Chelsea’s Carlton Cole currently on loan at Charlton.
If public figures are seen in the red district they will be hard hit by the free press. And let’s admit it; people in the sporting scene are regarded as more than small celebrities. Inter’s Mohammed Kallon and Man Utd’s Rio Ferdinand, who were found guilty on doping offences make bigger headlines than ‘a certain John Borg, found dead because of an overdose’.
Sometimes one wonders whether the news behind the news is the result of a hidden agenda of the protagonists, or mere gossip with a tinge of colour as if the story is factual though being shorn of quotes.
It is known that football clubs and their players suffer enormously because of certain headlines, which grossly differ from the truth.
It must be a nightmare for a manager to work efficiently with persistent rumours that his job is continually in the balance. Football is a rat race and club directors and owners are only looking for positive balances, which are mainly achieved by winning matches, attracting sponsorships, filling stadia and selling club products and the usual paraphernalia.
I was intrigued by an article that referred to England and Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand, England manager Swede Sven Goran Eriksson, Chelsea’s Italian manager Claudio Ranieri and the Israeli player agent Pini Zahavi, who is football adviser to the Chelsea’s Russian tycoon Abramovic. We all know last July Eriksson, accompanied by Zahavi, had visited Abramovic at his London flat and immediately the press reported that Eriksson is Chelsea’s next manager. Ranieri’s position has since been in jeopardy for months now and the situation has worsened after the midweek 0-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool. Ranieri is under no illusion about the job facing him.
He is only too aware that Eriksson has been lined-up to take his job after Euro 2004, despite continuous reports that Abramovic will not show him the door in the near future.
Only winning the Premier League championship or the European Champions League this season assures him of keeping his post.
Gianluca Vialli was sacked despite winning five honours for Chelsea; Ranieri has been there over three years and has won nothing!
Back to the Zahavi-Eriksson-Ranieri-Ferdinand dramatic farce. Chelsea spends more than £110m and the Russian owner is prepared to finance more deals. However, the main targets like Roma’s Cristian Chivu, Roberto Ayala of Valencia, or the Brazilian ace Lucio of Bayern Leverkusen failed to materialise despite Ranieri’s desperate efforts to sign a world class central defender to take over from the faltering Marcel Desailly.
So the media combines the move of Eriksson’s favourite, Ferdinand to Chelsea and the story gets further colour by adding that Sir Alex Ferguson is believed to be totally fed up with his forgetful player after the missed drugs test.
I recall what that smooth talker with lots of qualities and common sense referred to as Babs once told me. "The mental approach is of primary importance in everything and more so in team sport. If the squad’s confidence is eroded there is not much chance of registering positive results."
The same Babs is undoubtedly a very positive thinker with the right attitude. Babs added: " Mental stress creates physical tension, which invariably affects the teams’ performances. The psychological factor can hardly be ignored in any physical activity."
Babs’ comments speak volumes of common sense. The affable analyst added: "Money helps, but it does not always bring happiness or the desired success. A man with Lm25m is not necessarily happier than the one with Lm24m. Besides we can only have one breakfast a day!"
Babs has no equal in such delicate analysis and it is a real pity that there aren’t many Babs around.
Just think of Tottenham’s caretaker manager, David Pleat when he learns that his chairman Daniel Levy has already declared he has opened the door for Italy’s manager Giovanni Trapattoni. The Italian’s announcement that he will join a club after EURO 2004 has created a reaction among Italian clubs and great interest from Bayern Munich.
But then, the world is a stage and we are all actors; especially if your name is Paul Burrell or Diego Maradona. The former is the ex-royal butler, who faced the High Court and made millions by writing a book. He has now fashioned a new career. He may be appearing on the West End stage in a one-man show in the hope that he might reveal something sensational.
Maradona? The man who broke millions of English hearts with his infamous ‘Hand of God’ World cup goal in 1986 and who disgusted millions more because of his drug addiction, is to be the subject of a £300,000 musical.
‘10 - Between Heaven and Hell’ is being touted as a tragic comedy. Isn’t that what football is all about for some?