August 22 – Former German international Lukas Podolski is reported to be considering legal action after a right-wing website printed a photo of him with an article about illegal immigration.
The ex-Arsenal, Inter Milan and Galatasaray forward was pictured by Breitbart under the headline: ‘Spanish Police Crack Gang Moving Migrants on Jet-Skis’.
The website has since amended the article and apologised to Podolski. But the original image, from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when the German team were relaxing during a day off, was spread widely across social media and he has reportedly requested his lawyer to look into the case.
Breitbart updated the story with a new picture and said: “A previous version of this story included an image of Lukas Podolski on a jet ski. This image appeared as an illustration of a person on a jet ski. Breitbart London wishes to apologise to Mr Podolski.”
“There is no evidence Mr Podolski is either a migrant gang member, nor being human trafficked. We wish Mr Podolski well in his recently announced international retirement.”
Podolski, who now plays for Japanese side Vissel Kobe, made his final international appearance in March against England, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory.
Podolski’s manager Nassim Touihri told German newspaper Bild: “Lukas distances himself from it and won’t let himself be exploited. Our lawyer is already involved.”
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