INTERNET
FAI falls foul of online edit
09-02-2007
by Emmet Ryan
Wikipedia entries for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Ireland manager Steve Staunton and striker Robbie Keane have been sabotaged.
The online encyclopedia's pages were edited and updated several times on Thursday, following the Republic of Ireland's narrow victory against San Marino.
The FAI's own Wikipedia entry received the most detailed malicious editing of the three pages affected: "[They] are a bunch of f****** useless c**** that should be taken out and shot. Everything that they touch turns to ash. Wheither [sic] it's the Eircom League, all the money that they blew after the 1990 & 1994 world Cups, the Building of Eircom Park, The Roy keane [sic] incident, The Sacking Of Brian Kerr after he did the best that he could right down to the Appiontment [sic] of a man without no managerial experience and who talks through his a***... Mr Steve Staunton!"
The page was changed several times on Thursday with another version of the page including offensive remarks about Northern Ireland.
ENN contacted the FAI to assess reaction to the sabotage but no-one was available for comment at time of publication.
"People feel very strongly about it," said John Barrington, soccer correspondent with the Gazette group of newspapers, speaking with ENN. "There were 70-odd attempts to edit the page in the one day. As soon as it was edited it viraled out through e-mail."
The doctored pages appeared in the wake of Ireland's last-gasp 2-1 victory over European football minnows San Marino on Wednesday. Barrington said the result added to the dissatisfaction many supporters have with the FAI: "I think it's just the result of frustration."
The FAI page has been edited to remove the critical remarks in the introduction, and the pages have since been locked to prevent further editing. The pages for Robbie Keane and Steve Staunton had yet to be fixed at time of publication.
The introduction to Steve Staunton's page was adjusted to include critical references to his relationship with FAI chief executive John Delaney. It also stated that "He just doesn't have [a] clue. He should go back to coaching f****** Walsall."
Robbie Keane's page has also been adjusted to include allegations that his commitment to the national team is in doubt.
Wikipedia pages used to be easily edited by anyone, but the online reference service now demands registration for potential editors.
Previous scurrilous attacks on the site's pages included an entry that falsely linked former USA Today editor John Seigenthaler to the assassinations of President John F Kennedy and his brother Senator Robert Kennedy. Incidents such as this prompted Wikipedia to bring in a user registration requirement.
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