Former England soccer manager Kevin Keegan yesterday accepted £150,000 in libel damages over a News of the World story. It alleged he had organised high-stakes "betting nights" with his squad on the eve of important matches.
Keegan and his wife, Jean, were at the High Court in London to hear lawyers for News Group Newspapers offer "sincere apologies" over the article, which appeared last November.
His solicitor, Mr Alasdair Pepper, told Mr Justice Gray that the newspaper published a detailed account of what were said to be "scandalous" allegations against Keegan.
These were that he was the ringleader in a betting school that caused bitter rifts between the gamblers and non-gamblers in the team; that the £10s, £20s and £50s he used were marked up to £100s, £200s and £500s as squad members gambled thousands on the outcome of videoed horse races; that he allowed gambling to go on long into the night.
Mr Pepper said the newspaper now accepted that there was no truth in any of the defamatory allegations which ought never to have been published.
Outside the court yesterday an emotional Keegan said he was "delighted" with the result. He said the claims had caused "misery" to himself, the England players and the Football Association.
"The article made me look like somebody who did not care. I think that everybody who works with me knows that is not true," he said.
"Today has been a great day for us. It should never have happened. They published it. They paid the price."
The newspaper will also pay Keegan's legal fees, the cost of which has yet to be worked out.
Managing editor Stuart Kuttner said: "We are very glad to have settled the dispute with Kevin Keegan quickly and in a civilised fashion. The matter is now closed."
Mr Pepper told the court that the true position was that England players had for many many years, well before Mr Keegan's time as coach, played cards, taken part in race nights and bet among themselves as a perfectly normal and well-accepted means of passing their free time on journeys, between training sessions, and matches.
"Nothing out of the ordinary or improper happened under Mr Keegan's stewardship, let alone at his direct instigation and for his profit, as the News of the World alleged."