Chelsea boss Roman Abramovitch has kicked off a £200,000 legal battle for libel damages with The Sun.
Abramovitch is demanding damages over a page three story headed ‘Rom: I ate Jose! Jibe by Chelsea boss’which was published on 27 September. The story was accompanied by a photograph of him at table in front of a plate of food, holding a steak knife and fork, apparently about to eat the head of Jose Mourinho, superimposed on the plate.
Abramovitch says the story implied that he had behaved unprofessionally and in an unbusinesslike manner, by using one of his rare public appearances to attack his club’s former manager Jose Mourinho, referring to him in insulting and contemptuous terms, and indicating that his contribution to the club was transient and unimportant.
He is also seeking aggravated damages, saying publisher News Group Newspapers published the story without checking it with him or allowing his representatives to comment on it first.
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He denies speaking the words attributed to him, and says that the publishers have failed to apologise to him or publish a retraction.
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