Napoli Winger Accuses The Daily Record Of Inventing An Interview With Him.

A bizarre little tale here, but one that I find amusing and interesting for obvious reasons; Napoli are said to have responded angrily to quotes reported in The Daily Record and which Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, their Georgian winger, is alleged to have made.

There’s nothing particularly controversial in them; they mostly talk about how amazing the atmosphere is at Ibrox, so they are a bit of Sevco feel-good.

There’s just one problem with them; the club denies that he ever said any of it.

Calcio Napoli, and other independent outlets in Italy, were carrying the quotes from the interview. But the club itself got in touch with those outlets and flatly denied that any such interview was given to the media here.

Now it’s a strange story this because I’ve actually looked for The Daily Record interview in question and I cannot find it anywhere and I’m moved to wonder if they’ve bagged it already and taken it offline or if someone else has gotten their wires crossed.

I’ll tell you, reading the quotes, it does sound like the sort of thing that a Record writer might throw together by himself.

You be the judge.

“Playing the Champions League is the dream of any player. It is too early to say where we can get in the group, but we will have our say. We are very happy to have beaten one of the most prestigious clubs in Europe like Liverpool but it is already part of the past. We have to think about the Glasgow match. It will not be an easy match because they will play in front of their audience, we know the electric atmosphere that reigns on that pitch. They will push hard to bring home a good result but we are confident in ourselves and in being able to score there too.”

Those quotes are all over the place now, and Calcio Napoli and others are claiming that they are part of a Daily Record story; indeed, part of an interview with the player.

You can see why the club and the player might be puzzled as they are adamant that no such thing took place.

There is pressure on writers, constantly, and I know it myself.

There are a lot of things that we are permitted to do in order to hit targets and accomplish goals and put food on the table, but we’re not allowed to make stuff up.

If someone at The Record did that then for a publication with standards that would be an instant sacking offence.

Inventing stories is the direst sin that a journalist can commit; it’s why the names Jayson Blair, Janet Cooke and Stephen Glass are notorious, and their disgraces serve as a cautionary tale to anyone in the profession who would do it.

When a publication allows something like this their credibility tanks.

Not that The Record has a great deal of that anyway.

They are supposed to be in the business of printing facts, not fiction.

They are meant to obtain stories, not manufacture them.