{"id":364399,"date":"2011-04-03T21:01:46","date_gmt":"2011-04-03T21:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/"},"modified":"2011-04-03T21:01:46","modified_gmt":"2011-04-03T21:01:46","slug":"mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/","title":{"rendered":"Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div readability=\"114.24473684211\">\n<!-- google_ad_section_start(name=s2) --><\/p>\n<p>\nBy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/home\/search.html?s=y&#038;authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter\" rel=\"nofollow\">Daily Mail Reporter<\/a><br \/>Last updated at 10:01 PM on 3rd April 2011<\/p>\n<p>A defiant Mohammed Al-Fayed has told Fulham FC fans they can &#8216;go to hell&#8217; if they don&#8217;t like a new statue of Michael Jackson erected at Craven Cottage Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The Egyptian businessman, who is chairman of the West London club, unveiled the bizarre Eighties-era statue of Jackson on Sunday ahead of his team&#8217;s game against Blackpool.<\/p>\n<p>Al-Fayed, 78, commissioned the statue following the singer&#8217;s death in June 2009 and originally planned to place it in Harrods before selling the department store.<\/p>\n<div readability=\"8\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/542868a4400_468x660.jpg.jpg\" width=\"468\" height=\"660\" alt=\"Tribute: Fulham FC chairman Mohammed Al-Fayed unveils a statue of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage Stadium\" class=\"blkBorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Tribute: Fulham FC chairman Mohammed Al-Fayed unveils a statue of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage Stadium<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many football fans have been bemused by the placing outside the West<br \/>\nLondon club, believing the so-called link between the singer and team<br \/>\nisn&#8217;t strong enough to warrant such a statue.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the unveiling today, Mr Al-Fayed laughed off suggestions it was &#8216;bizarre&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He said: &#8216;Why is it bizarre? Football fans love it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;If some stupid fans don&#8217;t understand and appreciate such a gift this guy gave to the world they can go to hell.<\/p>\n<div readability=\"9\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/c47adc64168_468x657.jpg.jpg\" width=\"468\" height=\"657\" alt=\"Back to the Eighties: With his silver glove and darker skin tone, the statue appears to be inspired by Jackson's Eighties heyday\" class=\"blkBorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Back to the Eighties: With his silver glove and darker skin tone, the statue appears to be inspired by Jackson&#8217;s Eighties heyday<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8216;I don&#8217;t want them to be fans. If they don&#8217;t understand and don&#8217;t believe in things I believe in they can go to Chelsea, they can go to anywhere else.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>One fan outside the stadium, Michael Tune remarked: &#8216;We&#8217;re a laughing stock. It has nothing to do with football.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fulham FC defender Brede Hangeland defended the chairman&#8217;s decision to erect the statue.<\/p>\n<p>Hangeland said: &#8216;Some of our players are Michael Jackson fans, some aren&#8217;t, and that&#8217;s the same in the general population.<\/p>\n<div readability=\"7\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/9b6eba09822_468x308.jpg.jpg\" width=\"468\" height=\"308\" alt=\"Tenable: Many Fulham fans believe the musical statue has no genuine link to the team\" class=\"blkBorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Tenable: Many Fulham fans believe the musical statue has no genuine link to the team<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8216;His music has been on in the dressing room a couple of times. I&#8217;m sure we won when his music was played.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We have the deepest respect for everything about the chairman. If he wants to do this then it is all good.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Although Al-Fayed claimed Jackson &#8216;loved Fulham&#8217;, the American singer actually only attended one match in 1999.<\/p>\n<p>However, more recently in 2002, Jackson attended an Exeter City game with friend Uri Geller and became an honorary chairman of the Devon club.<\/p>\n<div readability=\"7\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/c8386296433_468x470.jpg.jpg\" width=\"468\" height=\"470\" alt=\"Only one game: Michael Jackson attended a 1999 Fulham V Wigan game with Al-Fayed\" class=\"blkBorder\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Only one game: Michael Jackson attended a 1999 Fulham V Wigan game with Al-Fayed<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Speaking about Jackson&#8217;s relationship with Fulham FC, Al-Fayed said: &#8216;The last game he attended here with me, he was running like a child, he loved the place.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He loved Fulham and he wanted to attend all of the matches. People will queue to come and visit it from all over the UK and it is something that I and everybody else should be proud of.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Despite fans&#8217; reservations, the statue may have proved a lucky charm &#8211; Fulham FC beat Blackpool 3-0.<\/p>\n<p><!-- google_ad_section_end(name=s2) --><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/542868a4400_468x660.jpg-150x150.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Follow this link:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/tvshowbiz\/article-1372985\/Mohammed-Al-Fayed-defends-Michael-Jackson-statue-Craven-Cootage.html?ITO=1490\" title=\"Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 10:01 PM on 3rd April 2011 A defiant Mohammed Al-Fayed has told Fulham FC fans they can &#8216;go to hell&#8217; if they don&#8217;t like a new statue of Michael Jackson erected at Craven Cottage Stadium. The Egyptian businessman, who is chairman of the West London club, unveiled the bizarre Eighties-era statue of Jackson on Sunday ahead of his team&#8217;s game against Blackpool. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-364399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 10:01 PM on 3rd April 2011 A defiant Mohammed Al-Fayed has told Fulham FC fans they can &#039;go to hell&#039; if they don&#039;t like a new statue of Michael Jackson erected at Craven Cottage Stadium. The Egyptian businessman, who is chairman of the West London club, unveiled the bizarre Eighties-era statue of Jackson on Sunday ahead of his team&#039;s game against Blackpool.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/542868a4400_468x660.jpg.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-03T21:01:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/\"},\"wordCount\":515,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/542868a4400_468x660.jpg.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/\",\"name\":\"Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/542868a4400_468x660.jpg.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-03T21:01:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/542868a4400_468x660.jpg.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/542868a4400_468x660.jpg.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/03\/mohammed-al-fayed-defends-michael-jackson-statue-at-craven-cootage\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Mohammed Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cootage - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 10:01 PM on 3rd April 2011 A defiant Mohammed Al-Fayed has told Fulham FC fans they can 'go to hell' if they don't like a new statue of Michael Jackson erected at Craven Cottage Stadium. 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