Footballers: Victims of press intrusion or just fair game?

Monday 28 January 2013

With press intrusion into private lives a problem for many within football, what can players do to combat unreasonable behaviour by journalists and photographers?

Following the shocking revelations surrounding the News of the World and the resulting Leveson Inquiry (that has – somewhat ironically – dominated the headlines), it is fair to say that the behaviour of the press has never been more under the spotlight.

It would also be fair to say that media intrusion into the lives of current and former footballers continues to be a real source of anger for many within the game – especially when that intrusion can have profoundly damaging consequences. At the Leveson Inquiry, former Blackburn captain Garry Flitcroft spoke of how press reporting on his private life may have led to his father’s suicide.

Concern over this issue is nothing new.  In 2010, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti attacked the media for its fixation on what players were up to off-the-pitch, while the presence of tabloid reporters and paparazzi has become a daily fixture in the lives of many top-flight footballers. As someone who has witnessed the stalking of players first-hand, and heard accounts of photographers waiting at school gates to snap players when they arrive to pick up their kids, it’s clear that the behaviour of some journalists can be unreasonably intrusive.

But what does the law have to say on the matter?  Although the media will often quote Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998 , which provides right to freedom of expression, that does not mean they can do and print what they like when it comes to well-known sports stars, and not face consequences.

Article 8 of the Human Rights Act  provides individuals with a right to respect for private and family life, and a crucial test for breach of privacy is generally that of whether publication is in the ‘public interest’. What this means is that the breach of privacy or publication of personal activity should be of legitimate importance to the general public.

If a story is seen to contravene an image which the individual widely trades upon for publicity and profit, then publication is generally upheld as in the public interest. But just because someone is a well-known figure, it does not mean that details of their private life are in the public interest. Former F1 president Max Mosley successfully sued the News Of The World after they ran a revealing story on his sex life, and received significant compensation as a result.

Injunctions to prevent publication of intrusive stories can be obtained but, as widespread contravening of a so-called super-injunction in the case of Ryan Giggs proved, the power of the internet means that keeping the cat in the bag is often impossible.

For that reason, complaining to the Press Complaints Commission and taking legal action for breach of privacy is perhaps the best current course open to footballers who feel the press have stepped over the line. If tougher legislation is implemented in the wake of Leveson, however, then perhaps the press will not be as quick to publish and be damned in future.