Gareth Bale hits back:
The Wales star then hit back after Marca's tasteless editorial and accompanying cartoon in an explosive statement condemning the abuse he had received from Marca as "slanderous, derogatory and speculative".
He continued: "At a time when people are taking their own lives because of the callousness and relentlessness of the media, I want to know, who is holding these journalists and the news outlets that allow them to write articles like this, accountable?
"Fortunately I have developed a thick skin during my time in the public spotlight, but that doesn't mean articles like these don't cause damage and upset personally and professionally to those at the receiving end of these malicious stories. I have witnessed the toll the media can take on peoples mental and physical health.
"The media expect superhuman performances from professional athletes, and will be the first to celebrate with them when they deliver, yet instead of commiserating with them when they show an ounce of human error, they are torn to shreds instead, encouraging anger and disappointment in their fans.
"The everyday pressures on athletes is immense, and it's as clear as day, how negative media attention could easily send an already stressed athlete, or anybody in the public eye, over the edge. I hope that by the time our children are of an age where they are able to ingest news, that journalism ethics and standards will have been enforced more stringently.
"So I want to use my platform to encourage change in the way we publicly talk about, and criticise people, simply for the most part, not meeting the often unrealistic expectations that are projected onto them. We all know who the real parasite is!"
The next step:
The groundswell of negativity in the Spanish media has grown to be harmful, nasty and even personal. It's served as a stark reminder that the constant abuse and narrative which is being propagated from several corners of the media in Spain can manifest itself into face-to-face confrontation, ugly verbal volleys and even physical attacks on his property, such as outside the Valdebebas training ground last year.
Constructive criticism over a player's performance on the pitch is fair game and no one is saying otherwise, but questioning the contents of a person's character oversteps a boundary and that has been the case this week. Reducing Bale to a leech-like organism sucking a club dry, after winning 14 trophies, including four Champions Leagues and two La Ligas, is simply unwarranted, even if it is of course meant to be satirical.
Real Madrid offered Bale an extraordinarily lucrative, six-year contract in 2016 and it would have been utter lunacy for him to turn that sort of deal down. No one in their right mind would do such a thing, he is securing his own future as well as his family's. The fact the club now deem that to have been some sort of mistake is no concern of Bale's whatsoever, so it's baffling that he is constantly being stung for the money he is receiving.
While his injury record has at times been poor, Zidane froze him out of the side long ago. Bale even accepted a move to China before the club stepped in at the last minute to sever the deal. He also agreed a season-long loan move away to Tottenham, with whom he enjoyed a good season in the Premier League, to ease the club's financial burden.
Real Madrid's chastening 4-0 defeat by Barcelona last week hardly had anything to do with Bale's niggling injury, yet some Spanish publications tore into him once more. Even when Bale had been fit in the last few weeks, Carlo Ancelotti only saw it fit for him to populate the substitutes' bench, anyway.
The contrast between how he is viewed in the two countries is so stark it is boggles the mind. He is the Prince of Wales here, he can do no wrong and the people of Wales have an unconditional love for him. The treatment in Madrid, a city in which he has largely excelled over the last nine years during a period of great success, is downright confusing.
Much of the live TV and radio outbursts are the sort of posturing rants which have seemingly become normalised in modern punditry, but they have a lasting effect on football fans and, in turn, players. Bale felt it right to call it out — he generally keeps his counsel — and highlight that it is at odds with a positive push towards aiding sports stars with their mental health, exemplified in this country by the EFL's link-up with the charity Mind.
Quite what Bale's outburst will do to alter views and media output in Spain remains to be seen, but the upshot is that he has only a few more months there until he jets off elsewhere. He knows he will be afforded more latitude in this country, where he is recognised as one of the greatest British exports ever to have played the game, but if he heads to pastures new elsewhere it will represent a clean slate.
After all, he has nothing left to prove in Madrid and he will be able to rid himself of the media talons with his head held extremely high.
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