The addition of a single word really altered Raheem Sterling’s statement on his new tattoo.
Raheem Sterling is getting it from both barrels across the Irish Sea for having the audacity to get a gun permanently scarred onto his skin.
It all started with the Sun going with the Man City man’s new body art as the lead story on their front page. The ‘article’ stated that the ink ‘sparked fury’ from anti-gun campaigners with some calling for him to be withdrawn from England’s World Cup squad as a result.
Sterling responded to the piece on his Instagram Story. He explained the tattoo was a reminder of his promise to never touch firearms following the death of his father, who passed away after being shot when he was a small child. He added the body art had ‘deeper meaning’ and wasn’t a completed piece.
The saga snowballed from there. It has opened up a debate on the perceived vilification of Sterling in English media. While Gary Lineker even suggested that it may be an attempt to destroy Sterling’s confidence prior to the World Cup.
To make matters worse, Sky Sports News have come under fire for an error during their coverage of Sterling’s statement. During one of their reports on the story, they added the word ‘again’ to Sterling’s statement which changed its meaning considerably. The addition of the word implies that Sterling has touched firearms before.
This was spotted by Kyle Walker (not the one you’re thinking of).
They added ‘again’ to his quote when he never said that! pic.twitter.com/IaKAX2yIez
— Kyle Walker (@kylewalker115) May 29, 2018
Unsurprisingly, Walker received a lot of requests to prove that the screenshot was legitimate. So he responded by putting up a clip of the Sky Sports segment.
https://twitter.com/kylewalker115/status/1001592360164364289
A Sky spokesperson has since apologised for the error in a statement issued to SportsJOE.
“We have offered Raheem our sincere apologies for the error we made in the reporting of his statement. The error should not have happened, and we are sorry for the distress it caused.”
