The Yorkshire Evening Post has apologised and paid “substantial” damages to Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich after falsely reporting that a court had been told that he threatened to kill Ken Bates.
Bates sold Chelsea to Abramovich in June 2003, and is now chairman of Leeds united FC.
The apology appeared in the newspaper and on its website last week.
It read: “In the Yorkshire Evening Post of June 11 we reported that a court had been told that Roman Abramovich had threatened to kill Ken Bates.
“The allegations were repeated in our online articles.
“We now accept that such threats were not made and should not have been published in this manner.
“We wish to set the record straight.
“We apologise for any distress caused to Mr Abramovich and his family and as a mark of our regret, we have agreed to pay Mr Abramovich substantial damages which he will be donating to charity, as well as his legal costs.”
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