The Sunday Mail
AC MILAN midfielder Michael Essien is considering suing the media outlets which spread the rumour that he had contracted the Ebola virus.
Essien (31) and his club both issued a denial of the fabricated reports via Twitter, after initially thinking it had all been a joke.
“It was Sunday night and I was at home in the best possible situation —relaxing on the couch, watching English Sky Sports. I was in my element,” explained Ghana international Essien in Italy’s La Repubblica.
“The phone rang and it was [Milan’s chief medical officer] Dr [Rodolfo] Tavana. I thought ‘what does he want at this time?’ I replied and he says ‘there’s somebody on the internet saying that you’ve got Ebola. It’s not true, is it?’
“I burst out laughing, and he was laughing with me. I told him I’m as fit as a fiddle. Five minutes later, our head Press officer Riccardo Coli calls me saying: ‘Somebody’s spreading a comment from me that we’re stunned by your illness, but obviously it’s all fake.’
“I was still laughing and he sent me the link where these rumours were and that was it. Only then, the following morning while I was out like a light sleeping, I got a call from my mum in Ghana, worried to death, and she asked me how I was.”
At that point, Essien said, he realised it was not a laughing matter.
“It was funny to begin with, but we’re talking about a dangerous virus,” he continued. “Actually, it’s lethal. You can’t treat reports like that lightly.
“There are many people dying, in Africa. That’s why I’m now talking to my solicitors and we’re ascertaining whether there is any scope for legal action.” — Soccernet.
