Daily Telegraph anti-football

[dibo]

From the SMH:

Cahill allegations were fabricated, says Schwarzer

Sam Lienert
June 20, 2009

SOCCEROOS veteran Mark Schwarzer is convinced Tim Cahill did nothing wrong during team celebrations at a nightclub, despite a bouncer's new allegations to the contrary.

Cahill has been accused of snatching a drink from a woman's hand and skolling it, grabbing a bouncer by the collar, and refusing repeated requests to leave the venue in Sydney's Kings Cross last Thursday night. But Schwarzer, who was not at the nightclub at the time, said he still accepted Cahill's version of the events.

"I've spoken to Timmy at length, as have a lot of other players as well, we've had his version of the story, and I fully support his version of the story," Schwarzer said. "I wasn't there but I know Timmy, and I know the circumstances behind it all and it's all totally untrue.

"Where the story's come from is anyone's guess. It's disappointing that those sort of stories come out, considering the guy has done absolutely nothing wrong."

Schwarzer labelled the allegations, outlined in Sydney's Daily Telegraph on Friday, an example of tall-poppy syndrome.

"There's a lot of publicity around what's happened with rugby league players and AFL players," he said. "It was inevitable that the press were out there to try and find a story on a footballer, and obviously a very prominent footballer.

"Timmy's a bit unfortunate, he's been used as a bit of an example for footballers they're trying to say that footballers are untouchable.

"We understand our position that we are role models to people, but to create a story out of something that really has no substance to it is quite remarkable. But unfortunately that's just the world we live in now, and it's a bit of a tall-poppy syndrome."

Schwarzer said it seemed part of generally negative treatment of the Socceroos in Sydney, which he said was a marked contrast to their reception in Melbourne, where almost 70,000 people watched them defeat Japan on Wednesday night.

"You look at the little response we received in Sydney and the negativity around certain aspects of the media in Sydney," he said. "To come to Melbourne and see such a positive response from the Melbourne media and also the Melbourne crowd is fantastic. It's really what I envisaged to come back [to Sydney] after the Qatar game and have that sort of response. Unfortunately, we didn't receive that response and that recognition in Sydney, but that's the way it goes some times."

Football Federation Australia officials did not return calls about the latest allegations against Cahill.

Meanwhile, Schwarzer also said it was pointless considering veteran striker Mark Viduka for next year's World Cup unless he showed total commitment to the cause. A dearth of top-class strikers appears the major weakness in an otherwise solid Australian squad, who topped their qualifying group in Asia largely because they conceded just one goal in eight games.

While a potential return by Viduka, who declined to play any part in the qualifying campaign, seems an appealing solution, Schwarzer said it was not worth trying to entice him back if he lacked the necessary dedication.

"You've got to be crazy to say you don't want a fit Mark Viduka, an enthusiastic, determined Mark Viduka in your squad," the experienced Socceroo said. "But they are the key words; he needs to be fit, to be determined and hungry, to want to play still. There's no point having any player that doesn't want to be there. You need players that are 100 per cent committed to the cause."

Also from the SMH, in Fitzsimons' column:

Here's a serve - with source

Peter FitzSimons
June 20, 2009

ALAN JONES had an extraordinary rant on his radio program against Neil Breen, the editor of The Sunday Telegraph, last Monday morning, concerning that paper's front-page treatment the day before of Socceroo Tim Cahill being ejected from a Kings Cross nightclub in the early hours the night before - after a fracas with bouncers in an apparently drunken state. I will let the paper defend the integrity of its own work - as can Channel Seven and The Sun-Herald because they ran substantially the same story - but allow me to say this, Alan. When you rip into them because they quote simply "sources" without giving names, you have - dot three, carry one, subtract two - zero credibility. For not only is it established journalistic practice on sensitive stories to not formally name sources who do not wish to get personally involved, but it is something you do all the time! A large part of your astounding success on radio is because you can ruthlessly slice and dice, cut and gut more targets in less time than any other broadcaster, ever - all day, every day - and you frequently do it on the basis of "I have been told", "My information is", "My sources say," etc etc etc. Also, Alan, do you think it might have been fairer to disclose your close friendship with Cahill, including that you were reportedly his guest at the recent FA Cup final at Wembley? Come to think of it, would it also be easier if you issued a list of your current coterie of sports star friends and associates so the rest of us can know who are under your protection at any given moment? Let's see, over the years, we've had "Tricky" Trindall, Jacin Sinclair, Dean Capobianco, Scott Miller, Julian O'Neill, the Poo, Damien Martyn, Tony Zappia and myriad others Quite a line-up. How are all those blokes going these days, by the way, after accepting your largesse?

Lastly, from FourFourTwo:

Trademark: Tim's Welcome Any Time

Kevin Airs
Jun 19 2009 13:41

EXCLUSIVE: Trademark boss Mim Salvato today ridiculed the media slurs on Tim Cahill - and said the Socceroo was welcome back at his bar any time.

Sydney's Sunday and Daily Telegraph have been running a week-long smear campaign on the Australia star, alleging he had a night of "disgrace" and "shame" at the Kings Cross bar last week.

The Daily Telegraph even ran claims today that he had been banned from returning to the high class nightspot, with anonymous quotes allegedly from a club bouncer saying: "He's not welcome back."

But the owner of the bar today said: "We love Tim Cahill and he's always welcome here as our guest. He's a national hero who has taken us to the World Cup.

"They've blown it out of all proportion. I don't know what they are going on about. I don't want Tim to look like a bad guy. It was just a simple misunderstanding."

Salvato - who went to the same Bexley school as Cahill - revealed Tim had celebrated the success of World Cup qualification with him at the bar on Wednesday night without any incident.

But when Cahill returned the following night without Salvato, a junior manager at the bar insisted strict Australian drinking laws meant bar staff were unable to serve him.

"If you look even slightly intoxicated, we are not allowed to serve you," explained Salvato. "Tim didn't understand this because he lives in England where you can drink as much as you like."

The situation became heated when the doorman intervened.

Salvato added: "The doorman got his knickers in a knot. We don't employ the doormen directly, we use a security company and no-one knew who he was.

"He certainly doesn't speak for Trademark. He had no right to talk about this. If he had a personal issue with Tim, that's his personal issue."

He added: "It was a nothing incident that should never have happened. Tim was just partying and then left. No punches were thrown and nothing else happened. There was no 'disgrace' or 'shame'.

"Police only became involved after the media phoned them. They came down, looked at the CCTV video, saw there was nothing to investigate and that was it.

"The Telegraph got it way out of line and I don't understand why they have been doing this."

Radio host Alan Jones took Sunday Telegraph editor Neil Breen to task over the newspaper's handling of the story and today again praised the Socceroo hero who scored our first ever goal in the World Cup and gave Australia victory over Japan with a brace of goals on Wednesday night.

Talking about the Telegraph in an email to a fan, he said: "I'm just sick and tired of these people. They assassinate all of us.

"I don't mind what they say about me, but some of these people have to be brought to a heel. I've had it for years. I don't see why others should have to endure it."

He added: "You will not find a greater sportsman or human being than Timmy Cahill."

Former Socceroo goalkeeper Mark Bosnich also joined the debate after the game on Japan, branding those responsible for the story as "scum".

---

From the top - Schwarzer is maybe being a little silly, coming out and saying "I know Timmy and he wouldn't have done that". I think he makes some pretty fair points about the media in Sydney, but it's simply not sensible to basically come out and say "my mate would never ever carry on like a pork chop, there's no story here at all".

Then FitzSimons - it may irk people, but Fitz has a point here. Jones is loathed by many (including many on here) for precisely the sourceless, baseless opinion dressed as fact that he's accusing other media outlets of being engaged in. He does have a history of sticking up for his 'mates' too, and there's nothing wrong with Fitz mentioning that. Fitz is careful to say he's not going to defend the coverage, he also doesn't make any claims about the veracity of the claims. He just skewers Jones, and fair enough too.

Lastly the FourFourTwo article bretty much covers all the bases. After reading that, it all makes sense. Cahill behaved like a dick, but it was no biggie and nobody's that bent out of shape about it. Everyone did their job except one bloke who wanted to get his (shadowed) face in the paper. Move along, nothing more to see.

 

[clarence]

The issue of hiding behind sources is very American. The US journalists can use the might of the US Constitution to lay the story out 'according to sources' and as long as it is in the public interest, litigation will usually fail, and the journos won't be compelled to reveal sources.

Different story over here. The libel and slander laws could be used by Cahill to push his case, he could subpoena the Terror Graph's editor and journos to submit their mobile phone records, and he has the wealth to engage some very high powered legal people to push Breen and co over the edge if he wants to.

I understand that in Australia, magistrates and judges are very reluctant to force the issue but the law does require a journalist to reveal sources if necessary and at the direction of the court, or face contempt charges. So if push comes to shove.....

Quite frankly, if Breen hasn't ensured his journos had been squeaky clean in this matter they are all toast.

Cahill has a contract with Everton and I'd reckon he has a good conduct clause somewhere in that, which requires him to represent himself at all times in a proper manner.

It may well end up that Cahill is obliged to take this matter to court in an effort to purge all the facts out of the newspapers and official police records etc. so he can convince his club that he behaved properly (or at least went home without incident once told he couldn't be served drinks).

If a court case does start I can predict that Tim will be offered a huge settlement by News Ltd. to keep the issue away from full disclosure being forced on the journos under oath, even if they have done nothing more than report the facts - which doesn't seem to the case here as the editor has even made an opinion piece or two on the issue. It would be interesting if Tim gets advice that the journos and Breen went outside of their duties as journalists and he had a right to sue them individually too.

 

[dibo]

I'm of the view that protection of sources is very important. Two Herald Sun journos very nearly went to jail over it very recently (refusing to reveal the name of people who leaked information to them revealing the then Federal Government had refused a recommended $500m increase in Veterans' Affairs benefits).

That said, this is a matter of journalistic ethics and the protection of sources itself needs to be used ethically. Paying off some bloke for 'tipping you off' to a story when the story is not 100% accurate and using the information to smear a public figure is a pretty serious abuse of journalistic ethics in itself. Ethics work both ways, not just as a cover-all for when you want to write a story a particular way and not be held accountable.

 

[clarence]

I'm of the view that protection of sources is very important. Two Herald Sun journos very nearly went to jail over it very recently (refusing to reveal the name of people who leaked information to them revealing the then Federal Government had refused a recommended $500m increase in Veterans' Affairs benefits).

That said, this is a matter of journalistic ethics and the protection of sources itself needs to be used ethically. Paying off some bloke for 'tipping you off' to a story when the story is not 100% accurate and using the information to smear a public figure is a pretty serious abuse of journalistic ethics in itself. Ethics work both ways, not just as a cover-all for when you want to write a story a particular way and not be held accountable.

Agreed 100% Dibo.

There will be some very reputable and wise old journos quite worried about this issue if it goes to court. The less amount of court cases pushing for disclosure of sources the better for them. I also understand that journos will usually try to confirm the bona fides of an incident with other independent sources that can be quoted before running the story, so there is less emphasis on the sources' info & a need to probe further into the source themself.

Which is why I am predicting a very large out of court settlement for Cahill if he does start proceedings.

That said, I'd really love to see full disclosure of everything the cops have on this matter including recordings of phone calls and all relevant paperwork - Breen was so adamant that the matter was in the public interest when talking with Jones, that he kept mentioning that Police had been called as reinforcement to his story that the matter was indeed, an incident.

 

[~Floss~]

I would've thought the Police are not obliged to reveal information about cases to anyone who rings up and asks for it, including the press. I don't know for sure, but you'd expect some sort of confidentiality policy, just like, you can't phone up a doctor's surgery and ask "did Kylie Minogue have an appointment there today?"

I was suss on the whole "we checked with Kings Cross Police and they were able to confirm they attended an incident" line from the start. If the 442 explanation is correct it is quite clear how Neil Breen got this information.

 

[clarence]

I would've thought the Police are not obliged to reveal information about cases to anyone who rings up and asks for it, including the press. I don't know for sure, but you'd expect some sort of confidentiality policy, just like, you can't phone up a doctor's surgery and ask "did Kylie Minogue have an appointment there today?"

I was suss on the whole "we checked with Kings Cross Police and they were able to confirm they attended an incident" line from the start. If the 442 explanation is correct it is quite clear how Neil Breen got this information.

If Cahill sues he may be able to subpoena Police records to establish that he wasn't an incident as implied by the Terrorgraph.

Police could also pursue a public nuisance investigation if the allegations about the media ringing them up is true, and proceed with criminal proceedings against a crank caller. In that case, they could use their own records and recordings as evidence and present that to the court.

 

[midfielder]

HUGE Issue given that Breen kept saying the police where called ... if the Terror called the police ..

 

[Arabmariner]

It will be interesting to see how this anti-football sentiment pans out over the next year and a half.

I suspect there will be plenty of it right up until the WC bid is won or lost.

What concerns me is how it is percieved overseas and whether our WC opponents make a big issue of it.Not this "incident" in particular but just the general anti-football sentiment.

It could be made out,rightly or wrongly, that the country is not fully behind the bid.

 

[FFC Mariner]

The Telegraph would hate the thought of a winning bid. They are part of a group that owns NRL clubs FFS.

Everything they do is to support the game.

Fittlers attempt to enter a womans room while drunk and half dressed wont make Sundays Tele as they have probably printed it, by Monday it will be old news for them.

Simple thing to do is make a personal decision not to buy it or read it.

 

[mariners4ever]

hmm, what a surprise, no apology in todays paper

 

[midfielder]

Maybe an email inbox needs to be filled up....

David Riccio - Deputy Sports Editor - Daily Terrorgraph
ricciod@newsltd.com.au
02 9288 3348

OR

Adam Mobbs - Sports Sub Editor - Daily Terrorgraph
mobbsa@sundaytelegraph.com.au


(fixed the telegraph email so 'swear filter' doesn't pick it up - adz)

 

[snowroo]

It will be interesting to see how this anti-football sentiment pans out over the next year and a half.

I suspect there will be plenty of it right up until the WC bid is won or lost.

What concerns me is how it is percieved overseas and whether our WC opponents make a big issue of it.Not this "incident" in particular but just the general anti-football sentiment.

It could be made out,rightly or wrongly, that the country is not fully behind the bid.

That's my concern too. Football needs the media on side or at least playing fair one way or another.


Todays paper has a two pager on Lowry. I suspect he may have had some discussion with the tele hinting that they might have to get along a little better. I certainly hope so. I won't hold my breath though and wait for the next time the Socceroos are on centre stage in Australia to see their reporting.

 

[snowroo]

Maybe an email inbox needs to be filled up....

David Riccio - Deputy Sports Editor - Daily Terrorgraph
ricciod@newsltd.com.au
02 9288 3348

OR

Adam Mobbs - Sports Sub Editor - Daily Terrorgraph
mobbsa@sundayTerrorgraph.com.au

I like the way you think. I think this suggestion needs to be made on 442 to help these grubs get an even bigger fan club.

 

[serious14]

They just won't stop....

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25665118-5016360,00.html

The email that will split the Socceroos

THE Socceroos' World Cup campaign has been rocked by a split among senior players over the disgraceful behaviour of Tim Cahill in a Kings Cross nightclub last week.

A big-name player broke ranks, on the condition of anonymity, to reveal: "Some of the boys have let the whole superstar thing go to their heads and they act like they are untouchable.''

In an email sent to us yesterday, the player was critical of goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer for supporting Cahill after he was thrown out of the Trademark nightclub. This is the unedited copy of the email we received, which was followed up by a phone call to confirm its validity.

"For Mark to say that he totally believes what Tim says when he wasn't even there just goes to show how far some people will go to stick their head in the sand. Mark has been in the team for as long as I have and this sort of thing has always been part of every camp except when Guus (Hiddink) was in charge.

"The only difference lately is that some of the boys think that they can push things to new extremes in the way they treat people and the worst thing about it is that the young players are imitating what the senior players are doing.

"I have been with the team for over 10 years and we have always liked to go and have a drink and a laugh after a game, and fair enough, too. When you work hard and give everything you can, then win, lose or draw, you should be able to have a good time with your team-mates, but within reason.

"You don't go around abusing people and acting like a big-time Charlie. Ever since the World Cup it has just gotten worse and worse. Some of the boys have let the whole superstar thing go to their heads and they act like they are untouchable. The worst thing is that lately they have been going out of camp even before matches and breaking curfews.

"It happened before the April 1 game. Everyone knew about it ... the media, the FFA and Pim (Verbeek) and they just pretended it didn't happen. What gets me is the guys that are doing this sort of thing the most are the ones running around the place and telling everyone how they do this and that for the kids and how they want to be role models.

"It's a bloody disgrace and I'm glad that people are finally taking it a bit more seriously. If we don't pull our heads out of the sand and be honest with ourselves the World Cup will be a disaster.''

Meanwhile, we have been hearing disturbing reports all week about Cahill's off-field issues, including one eyewitness account of how he and his brother stormed into a memorabilia store in Sydney this year and ripped down a framed and signed photo of himself being sold for $160.

The owner had legitimately purchased the item from one of his suppliers, whose name and phone number he supplied to Cahill. In front of customers, Cahill also accused the shop owner of having forged signatures on other signed pictures, which was totally incorrect. We spoke to the shop owner, who politely declined to comment.


Anonymity.  "Sources say".  "On condition of not being identified".

More horseshit to add to the pile.  Amazing the "big name player" in question only e-mailed the Telegraph.....

 

[tuftman]

Woulda thought the shellacking Jones gave Breen over the last load of shit might've told them they need a source or two, not just generic terms to cover their arses with.

 

[dibo]

Why is it impossible that a Socceroo might have emailed the telegraph, aside from not wanting it to be true? From the nightclub owner's own account, Cahill was acting like a dick. The rest of the story from the email is frankly pretty plausible.

These fellas aren't saints, we shouldn't expect them to be but nor should we be that surprised if someone gets offended or annoyed when one of them acts like a dick.

 

[kevrenor]

Why is it impossible that a Socceroo might have emailed the Terrorgraph, aside from not wanting it to be true?

The 'Socceroo' stated that he had been in the squad as long as Schwarzer! That goes back to 1993. No-one goes back that far. The nearest (without checking further) may be Kewell, Emerton .. think about it!

 

[dibo]

so if it's genuine i reckon it's probably one of those two (as they're the ones who have been around 'as long as anyone bar schwarzer') - kewell's been around since 1996, emerton 1998. frankly, they're in the ballpark and i don't think i'd rule them out over some sloppy phrasing.

i'm not saying it *is* genuine because i can't know that, but i do think it's perfectly plausible that someone might say it, whether that's good news to us or not.

 

[marinersman]

Their obsession with this Cahill story is bodering on patholigical. They are obviously wounded from the criticism they have received and are now running stories in an attempt to prove themselves right.

There is no story here, end of. It's time for them to move on and find someone else to try and destroy with false reporting. The whole media organisation is a disgrace to Australian journalism. They obviously have no pride in their profession. Pauline Hanson nude photos anyone?

 

[mariners4ever]

Why is it impossible that a Socceroo might have emailed the Terrorgraph, aside from not wanting it to be true? From the nightclub owner's own account, Cahill was acting like a dick. The rest of the story from the email is frankly pretty plausible.

where did he say this ??? you sure it wasnt the bouncer, considering the owner said his side of the story to 442 and the sun-herald

so if it's genuine i reckon it's probably one of those two (as they're the ones who have been around 'as long as anyone bar schwarzer') - kewell's been around since 1996, emerton 1998. frankly, they're in the ballpark and i don't think i'd rule them out over some sloppy phrasing.

hmm, emerton wouldnt know, he probably wasnt even there, so really, there is only kewell, who i would doubt would do this to cahill