Open letter to 'The Sun'
UPDATE (17 Jan 2006): The Sun have written back to me, apologising for
the mistake. See comments below for full text of the apology.
Dear Sirs,
I'd like to register my disgust at the shocking lack of bad taste your article here shows.
Quite aside from the slur on the character of several very good players
(Manninger and Boa-Morte both have league winners medals with Arsenal,
and several other players have enjoyed success based on what they
learnt while at Arsenal, so what exactly is your criteria here?) there
is the fact that you've had the very bad judgement to include Niccoló
Galli as a "miss" in your list.
Now I realise that facts and research aren't something you're very good
at so I'll try to help you refresh your memories. Here is the
Wikipedia
entry for Galli:
"Niccolò Galli (May 22, 1983—February 10, 2001) was a promising
footballer who tragically died in a road traffic accident aged 17. The
son of former Italian international goalkeeper Giovanni Galli, he began
with his hometown club, Fiorentina, before moving to Arsenal in August
1999. He spent one year in London, winning the FA Youth Cup in 2000,
returning to Italy with Bologna that summer. It was here that the young
central defender's career really started to take off, featuring in
Serie A and being recognised by Italy's youth teams, before his life
was tragically cut short.
The football training centre used by Bologna FC, in the neighbourhood of Casteldebole, is named after him."
His life, as it says above, was "tragically cut short" by a fatal road
traffic accident. Prior to this, he had enjoyed much success on loan at
Bologna and had been identified by both Liam Brady and Arsene Wenger as
an incredible talent who was definitely destined for the first team.
There is a
foundation named after him as well as the Bologna training centre.
I'd like to suggest that you owe the player's family an apology and
retraction of your baseless and tasteless claims. You managed to
disgust the vast majority of knowledgeable football fans with the trash
you printed about Hillsborough, and you've managed to do it again
today.
I will be posting this as an open letter on my website, and I look forward to your reply.
Regards
Rob Moir