Posted Mar 9th 2007, 9:59am

London Sport

It is with interest that I read that Steven Gerrard recently won a libel case against the magazine London Sport which claimed that the Liverpool captain was considering a move to Spanish club Real Madrid. Gerrard was awarded undisclosed damages against the mag, which made the allegations in an article in January.
The article claimed Gerrard booked into the same hotel as Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon and speculated that a move could take place in the summer.
Similar, but less detailed allegations were also made in another article published in February.
However, Gerrard's lawyer Gerard Tyrell told London's High Court that the allegations were not true and that the magazine had not contacted the footballer or his agent to verify the story before it was published.
Mr Tyrell told the court that Gerrard had not been involved in secret talks with Real Madrid or any other football club regarding a possible move and said that the player was "more than happy" at Liverpool.
The solicitor also told the court that the story had caused Gerrard and his family embarrassment and distress.
Echo Publishing, which prints London Sport Magazine, agreed to pay damages and legal costs to Gerrard and apologised for the distress caused by the article.
Now this raises interesting questions. As a journalist myself, I´´m sure if I´d written a similar story and phoned Gerrard or his agent for confirmation about a possible Real Madrid move, they´re obviously going to deny it. The article also stirred my interest as I happen to be a contributor. I´ve interviewed the likes of Sol Campbell (incredibly open), freediver Tanya Streeter (incredibly confident), and Phil Tufnell (incredibly drunk). Here´s some links for your amusement:
http://www.ls-magazine.co.uk/articles/cache/c33fb82faf6d44e2bfd824cb1d73c1c4.php

http://www.ls-magazine.co.uk/articles/cache/4c943e084b437265fa111be8af21ffa9.php

One would hope that the damages handed out won´t affect the long-term future of London Sport.