The Indie:
An insult about Zinedine Zidane's sister from Marco Materazzi is understood to have provoked the Frenchman's extraordinary headbutt for which he was sent off in Sunday's World Cup final. The Italian was also forced yesterday to deny he called Zidane, whose parents are Algerian immigrants, a " dirty terrorist".
While Zidane is expected to clear up the debate within the next week by revealing what was said to him at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Sunday the clues are now pointing towards a remark about the Frenchman's sister, Lila. It was a confrontation that began with Materazzi grabbing Zidane's shirt.
It is alleged that Zidane responded by sarcastically telling Materazzi that he could have his shirt as a souvenir at the end of the match. The Italian is alleged to have responded by saying that Zidane could keep it for his sister and then made an extremely derogatory comment about her that version is backed up by lip-readers from the Brazilian TV channel Globo. They claim Materazzi called her a "prostitute".
Materazzi attempted to head off any controversy yesterday by releasing an official statement with the blessing of the Italian football federation after he was accused of making the "dirty terrorist" remark by an anti-racism group in Italy. The SOS Racism group said "very well informed sources from the world of football" had told it that Materazzi had called Zidane a "dirty terrorist".
Materazzi said: "It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist. I'm ignorant. I don't even know what the word means."
The Guardian:
An Italian lip-reader last night claimed to have deciphered the words Marco Materazzi said to Zinédine Zidane that provoked the French captain into butting him in the chest during Sunday's World Cup final, the great midfielder's final act before a red card ended his career in top-level football.
According to the BBC, Materazzi said, "I wish an ugly death to you and all your family," and then told Zidane to "go fuck yourself".
A Paris-based anti-racism group, SOS-Racism, earlier said that "several very well informed sources" had suggested Zidane was called a "dirty terrorist".
But though video evidence is being used to judge Materazzi, it was not used by match officials to condemn Zidane. Fifa yesterday released a statement insisting that "the fourth referee saw the incident with his own eyes and told the referee and the assistant directly through their headsets".
The Mirror:
Zinedene Zidane's World Cup headbutt was sparked by vile insults about his mum, his religion and terrorism, it was claimed last night.
The furious French captain attacked Marco Materazzi after the defender allegedly sneered: "All Muslims are terrorist b*****s."
And sources claim the Italian even branded Zidane's Algerian mum Malika "a whore".
The Sun:
Zinedene Zidane headbutted an Italian in the World Cup Final over a vile slur on his ill mother Malika, it was claimed last night.
A lip-reader told The Sun that Marco Materazzi called Zidane a "son of a terrorist whore" before the French Algerian was sent off in Sunday's explosive match.
It came as Zidane was named the World Cup player of the tournament yesterday, despite his red-card shame.
A French Football Federation source said: "If you insult Zidane's mother you are asking for trouble. Combine such words with a reference to terrorism, which French Algerians are very sensitive about, and a violent reaction might appear inevitable."