Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 6y

Thibaut Courtois should sue journalists amid leak claims - Marc Wilmots' lawyer

Thibaut Courtois and his father, Thierry, should sue the journalists who claimed it was they who leaked sensitive Belgium national team information during Euro 2016, Marc Wilmots' lawyer has said.

Courtois, the Chelsea goalkeeper, wrote on Facebook that they intend to sue Wilmots for slander and defamation following his interview with beIN SPORTS.

In the interview, Wilmots accused an unnamed player of having "sold out the national team," but clearly said it was French media who had alleged Courtois' father had been the one to leak team selection news on social media.

"A number of media are saying now that it is Marc Wilmots himself who had said such things, which is clearly inexact and doesn't correspond at all with the literal transcription of the words exchanged during the interview," Wilmots' lawyer, Walter Van Steenbrugge, told Belgian media.

"If Mr. Thierry Courtois thinks it opportune to make a criminal complaint because the statement is, according to him, inexact, he should then address the French journalists who made the statements in question during a programme on L'Equipe TV, and -- by extension -- the journalists who unduly relayed the untruthful lies without verifying them."

Wilmots left his position after Belgium failed to reach the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.

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