- Lineker had criticised transfer due to the sum Kewell’s agent received in move
- The case was eventually settled out of court after jury failed to reach a verdict
- DOMINIC KING: Liverpool have 13 games left, but they will have to win 12 to clinch the league – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Gary Lineker has opened up on being sued by former Liverpool star Harry Kewell over a newspaper column.
Kewell, who played for the likes of Leeds and Galatasaray during his career as well as Liverpool, appeared to take issue with Lineker’s words over two decades ago as he discussed his move from the Whites to the Reds.
The article in the Sunday Telegraph, titled: ‘Kewell Move Made me Feel Ashamed of the Game,’ resulted in Kewell suing for alleged defamation, with Lineker writing that the Australian ‘needed his head examined’ given the money his agent was making from the deal.
Though it was revealed the article was ghost-written, Lineker said it was ‘a very fair reflection of my thoughts and my feelings at the time’ and stood by his view during the case.
Now, the Match of the Day presenter has opened up on the ordeal, speaking on the The Rest is Football podcast with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
Gary Lineker (pictured) has opened up on when he was sued by former Liverpool star Harry Kewell nearly two decades ago
Lineker spent several days in court over a column he wrote in the Sunday Times in 2003
The article said that Kewell (pictured) ‘needed his head examined’ given the money his agent was making from the deal
‘Do you know Harry Kewell sued me?’ he began in a conversation around the Premier League’s best Australian players. ‘It’s quite a while ago, I used to have a column and it was around transfers.
‘I was talking about how agents shouldn’t be allowed to represent both parties in terms of the football club on both sides and the player himself because of conflict of interest. He sued me over this because I called him naive for that. It was obvious that his agent took the hump.
‘I was in court for four or five days giving evidence, it was ludicrous and obviously it didn’t transpire that he won the case.
‘But I was thinking, “I feel like a criminal, all I’ve done is call him naive”. It was surreal, so surreal. There was a jury. Honestly. It went on and on and I just thought, “This won’t happen, it’s madness”. It was a waste, nuts. I haven’t seen him since.’
The case was eventually settled out of court with the 12-person jury unable to reach a verdict
Lineker branded the trail ‘madness’ and told co-hosts Alan Shearer and Micah Richards that he ‘felt like a criminal’
Lineker stuck to his guns in the trial and it was eventually settled out of court, with the jury discharged after it failed to reach a verdict.
During the trial, which took place in 2005, a defiant Lineker said: ‘Nothing that I have heard or read since has changed my view on this. This was quite clearly a murky transfer; you’ve got someone who’s representing all sides in this deal.
‘Everything I’ve read since about it has actually made it appear murkier,” he told the high court this morning. So far from feeling the need to apologise I actually feel, if I’m allowed to say this, vindicated.’
