Skip to main content

ENGLAND STAR, RAHEEEM STERLING EXPLAINS ABOUT HIS GUN TATTOO AFTER CRITICISMS.



London, ENGLAND:
Anti-gun campaigners have slammed the £170,000-a-week Manchester City star after he displayed the new tattoo during training for World Cup 2018 yesterday.

Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the English national team. He received the Golden Boy award for 2014 from a pan-European panel of sports journalists, recognizing him as the best under-21 player playing in Europe. A 2015 professional study by Soccerex ranked him as the most valuable young player in Europe, with a value of € 49 million.
Image: AFP.


The new design - which Sterling claims is a tribute to his late father - was shared with his 3.6million Instagram followers - many of whom are young fans and look up to him as a role model.

But activists have described the artwork as 'an absolute disgrace' and since called for the 23-year-old to be dropped from England's World Cup squad.

Lucy Cope, of Mothers Against Guns, said it was 'sickening' that he was showing off the inking to his followers.

She told the Sun: 
'This tattoo is disgusting. Raheem should hang his head in shame. It's totally unacceptable. We demand he has the tattoo lasered off or covered up with a different tattoo.'

The 63-year-old added:
'If he refuses he should be dropped from the England team. He's supposed to be a role model but chooses to glamorise guns.'

It comes amid outrage over gun and knife crime in London, where Sterling grew up, with Scotland Yard probing 66 murders in the capital this year.  

Iffat Rizvi, of the Starr anti-gun campaign, said: 'This is disrespectful to young people who lost their lives. How can he do this in the current climate of gang violence?' 


But Sterling, who got the tattoo on his right leg in March, has defended the inking as a tribute to father who was shot dead when he was a child.

He wrote on Instagram: 
'When I was two, my father died from being gunned down to death. I made a promise to myself I would never touch a gun in my lifetime.

'I shoot with my right foot so it has a deeper meaning and is still unfinished.'


Sterling was pictured with the tattoo while training with England at St George's Park in Staffordshire yesterday ahead of this summer's World Cup in Russia.

DailyMail.com US Editor-at-Large Piers Morgan tweeted:
'I happen to like Raheem Sterling and think he's a great footballer.

'But he does a lot of dumb things that inevitably attract media interest - like tattooing an assault rifle onto his leg before a World Cup.'


However, Henry Winter, chief football writer for The Times, said that Sterling's tattoo was 'ill-advised, but few have been through what Sterling has'.

BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey tweeted: 'Every major tournament it feels something is done to rock the England boat, to damage players morale... then we wonder why they struggle.'

And BBC Match of the Day host Gary Lineker praised Sterling as 'a terrific footballer with a brilliant work ethic', adding: 'This persecution is disgusting.'


The striking tattoo is one of a number of body artworks Sterling has to record both his humble origins and his ambition as a footballer.

He grew up on a tough estate next to Wembley Stadium in London, and his left arm features both a picture of the venue and the logo for the local Tube station.

Inked on his biceps are the words: 
'Thank you mama for the nine months you carried me, through all the pain and suffering.'

This tattoo was made in tribute to his mother Nadine, who brought him up single-handed when they moved to Britain from Jamaica.


At the top of his arm he has the name and an image of the face of his daughter, Melody Rose, who was born in 2012.

In February, Sterling hit the headlines after buying his beloved sister Kima-lee a house in London for her 27th birthday.

Two years prior, in June 2016, Sterling showed off a mansion that he bought for his mother just hours after he had arrived back in Britain following England's disastrous performance at Euro 2016 which saw them knocked out by Iceland.

He was seen smiling as he took a group of friends on a private tour of the luxury home near London. He later showed off an extravagant bathroom, complete with a matching silver toilet and a glittering jewel-encrusted sink. 

Sterling famously dubbed himself 'The Hated One' after he was blasted by fans following a poor performance for England in a 1-1 draw with Russia at Euro 2016.

But he has scored 44 goals in 114 appearances for Manchester City since he joined for £50million in July 2015, with 23 of those strikes in the past season. 


England will be hoping Sterling is on target this summer, with the footballer set to play a key role in their bid for glory at the World Cup.

Certainly, Sterling is ready to take aim at opponents Tunisia, Panama and Belgium in Group G in Russia after a superb season for City.

Sterling scored 23 goals and assisted a further 17 in 46 club matches, as City won the Premier League, setting a new team scoring record in the process of being the first English top flight side to reach 100 points.  

SOURCE: Daily Mail.

Comments

POPULAR NEWS FROM THIS SITE:

CUBA CLAIMS CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER IS FIDEL CASTRO'S SON.

The suicide note left by Fidel Castro’s eldest son has rocked the Cuban nation this week, with the most astonishing revelation being the claim that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was his half-brother and the son of the late Fidel Castro. The handwritten note left by Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, 68, the eldest of Fidel Castro’s children, appears to confirm the longstanding rumor in Cuba that Fidel Castro fathered Justin Trudeau after a public tryst with Margaret Trudeau in 1970. “ Castro Diaz-Balart, who had been attended by a group of doctors for several months due to a state of profound depression, committed suicide this morning ,”  Cubadebate website reported. The death of the high-profile government nuclear scientist, also known as “Fidelito”, or Little Fidel, because of how much he looked like his father, stunned the nation, however it is his “ explosive ” suicide note that has set tongues wagging in Havana. Amid a wide-ranging barrage of compl...

TWIN SISTERS ARE TRYING TO CONCEIVE WITH THE SAME MAN.

Anna and Lucy DeCinque with their boyfriend Ben Byrne. Image: Instagram. Perth, AUSTRALIA: Two sisters self-described as “the world’s most identical twins” aim to get pregnant by their shared boyfriend and, if the law would allow it, marry him. Besides looking alike, the sisters also share everything together, including their bed and even their boyfriend of eight years electrical mechanic Ben Byrne. 'We would like to have babies with Ben,'  they said  in a video. But before going into details, the siblings questioned whether it was possible for them to fall pregnant at the same time. Anna and Lucy DeCinque, who made their announcement on an Australian morning show, confirmed that their communal boyfriend is "very happy" with the plan. The DeCinque twins, 33, appeared on the show Dec. 3 to discuss their decision to eschew plastic surgery despite embracing such procedures in the past, but they soon doubled down on claims that they were plannin...

NAMIBIA VOWS TO GRAB FARMS FROM WHITE FARMERS.

Okahandja, NAMIBIA: Vibrant rows of neatly lined plants grow on a patch once trampled by the cattle of a large commercial farm run by a family of German descent in Namibia. From that 2,400 square-meter rectangle of sand in the northern Otjozondjupa region, Kornelius Hamasab, 69, now produces spinach, onions and tomatoes. Hamasab is among the 16 percent of black Namibians owning arable land in the semi-desert southwest African nation. White Namibians, who are descended from former colonizers Germany and South Africa and make up six percent of the population, own 70 percent of the land. "It doesn't seem right to me,"  said Hamasab, who acquired his land as compensation five years after the farm downsized into a guesthouse in 2000 and laid off its staff. "The government should do something about it,"  he added, while his family picked and rinsed collared greens to be sold in the capital Windhoek, 150 kilometers away. Namibia adopted ...

THE TRIBE THAT WORSHIPS PRINCE PHILIP AS 'GOD'

Prince Philip corresponded with the villagers over the years, and sent pictures of himself holding a ceremonial club they gave him. Image: REUTERS. Tanna, VANNUATU: As Britons mourn the death of Prince Philip, they are joined by a tribal community on a Pacific island half a world away. For decades, two villages on the Vanuatuan island of Tanna have revered the Duke of Edinburgh as a god-like spiritual figure. A formal period of mourning is now under way. On Monday, 12, April, scores of tribespeople gathered in a ceremony to remember Prince Philip. Image: REUTERS. "The connection between the people on the island of Tanna and the English people is very strong... We are sending condolence messages to the Royal Family and the people of England," said tribal leader Chief Yapa, according to Reuters news agency. For the next few weeks, villagers will periodically meet to conduct rites for the duke, who is seen as a "recycled descendant of a very powerful spirit or god th...

MALARIA VACCINE PROVES HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN BURKINA FASO.

A vaccine against malaria has been shown to be highly effective in trials in Africa, holding out the real possibility of slashing the death toll of a disease that kills 400,000 mostly small children every year. The vaccine, developed by scientists at the Jenner Institute of Oxford University, showed up to 77% efficacy in a trial of 450 children in Burkina Faso over 12 months. The hunt for a malaria vaccine has been going on the best part of a century. One, the Mosquirix vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, has been through lengthy clinical trials but is only partially effective, preventing 39% of malaria cases and 29% of severe malaria cases among small children in Africa over four years. It is being piloted by the World  Health  Organization in parts of Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. The Oxford vaccine is the first to meet the WHO goal of 75% efficacy against the mosquito-borne parasite disease. Larger trials are now beginning, involving 4,800 children in four countries. Prof ...

NIGERIAN-BORN TO BE FIRST BLACK DEPUTY TREASURY SECRETARY OF U.S

Washington DC, U.S: Speaking at a Washington think tank in the summer of 2016, Adewale Adeyemo, President Barack Obama’s international economics adviser, warned about the perils of protectionism, explained how a growing Chinese economy was good for the world and talked up the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal he helped negotiate that Democrats ultimately rejected. Four years later, such talk might sound out of touch with a Democratic Party that has become even more hawkish on China and increasingly wary of sprawling international trade deals. But that was not a concern for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who this week tapped Mr. Adeyemo to be deputy Treasury secretary, solidifying his team with another stalwart veteran of the Obama administration who would bring center-left economic ideas, deep experience and diversity to Mr. Biden’s top ranks. Adewale "Wally" Adeyemo (born 1981) is a Nigerian-born American attorney and political advisor serving as the first presi...

A 26-YEARS-OLD WOMAN ADOPTS 14 AFRICAN ORPHANS.

London, ENGLAND: A young British woman has become mum to a staggering 14 Tanzanian children she met after volunteering in an orphanage on her gap year. Letty McMaster, 26, was just 18 years old when a month-long trip volunteering at an orphanage in Africa changed her life forever. She ended up staying for three years to support the children she had met, and when the orphanage shut down, Letty took in nine youngsters who would have been left homeless. Seven years on, she lives with the children after becoming legal guardian to them ALL - as well as five more kids she met on the streets or at a safe house she runs. Letty McMaster. Letty, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent,  said:  "These children are my whole life, I raise them all on my own and they keep me going through the long hours of juggling everything. "I'd always had in mind that I wanted to help street children so my family and friends weren't surprised but I never expected to end up doing all this. " I am the pa...

"PAINTING COW TO LOOK LIKE ZEBRA REDUCES FLIES BY 50%", JAPANESE RESEARCHERS.

Painting a cow to look something like a zebra has been found to reduce fly bites by 50%. Researchers believe painting stripes on to cattle is a world-first and could become an environmentally friendly alternative to pesticides. The study, published by Japanese scientists in the journal Plos One , found fly attacks were “significantly reduced” by the disguise. The scientists believe the striped pattern confuses the fly’s motion detection and deters the pests. In what was a five-minute process for each animal, researchers painted white, 4cm to 5cm stripes on six pregnant Japanese black cows. The stripes were drawn freehand, using “commercial waterborne white lacquers” that faded easily. The laquered bovines were then observed. Two of the cows were painted with white stripes, two with black stripes and two were left unpainted for a control. The process then repeated so, over nine days, each cow spent three days striped, painted black or unpainted. Only 55 flies ...

CHINA BANS WORKERS FROM DRINKING ALCOHOL AFTER WORK.

Beijing, CHINA: Chinese authorities have released regulations to ban civil servants from drinking alcohol outside their working hours to boost their work performance and improve the government’s image. The move can help state employees concentrate on their work and avoid mistakes, according to official media. It is also deemed crucial in the prevention of bribery, which often takes place during lavish, out-of-office meals that feature liquor. Communist officials, civil servants and staff in state-run firms must not drink after work on weekdays, according to the rules which have been rolled out in multiple Chinese regions. Similar rules are now being enforced in multiple regions – including the city of Nanjing and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. While some local authorities have in the past cracked down on work-related drinking events, the recent push prohibits the consumption of alcohol in officials’ private time on weekdays completely. In the county of Qingcheng in Gansu, gov...

WOMAN WHO HAD 44 CHILDREN BY 36 YEARS-OLD BANNED FROM HAVING MORE BABIES.

  Kampala, UGANDA: Mariam Nabatanzi had her first set of twins when she was just 13 and has since had another five sets, three sets of quads and four sets of triplets Mariam Nabatanzi suffers from a rare genetic condition and had given birth to 44 children by the age of 36. Tragically, Mariam has been left to raise her massive family alone after her husband walked out on her almost four years ago. Now 40, doctors have taken action to stop Mariam having more children after it emerged her father had 45 children with several different women. Mariam has three sets of quadruplets, four sets of triplets and six sets of twins and incredibly manages to care for and feed them all on her own. The fertile mum was just 12 when she was married to her husband, who at 40 was 28 years her senior. Just a year later she gave birth to her first set of twins. Now, she and all of her kids have no choice to live in appallingly cramped conditions in just four ...