A globe-trotting comic book character has left officials at Greek football club Aris with faces as red as his
famous sweater after popping up in a spoof photo in a matchday program. Instead of using an official Manchester City team picture for the program for Tuesday’s Europa League match, designers at Aris downloaded a digitally doctored photo from the internet. Not only did the mock squad feature famous names from the world of football who have previously been linked with the big-spending English club, it also included Wally—a distinctive character from the popular children’s book “Where’s Wally?”A City official spotted the photo at a pre-game function and embarrassed Aris officials were forced to scrap the program before the match. Some copies made it into the public domain, but Aris insisted Friday that they were not circulated.
Aris said Manchester City had provided a photo for the program, but for technical reasons the printers were unable to use it and instead downloaded the spoof off the internet—without realizing there was anything wrong with it.
“As soon as we realized there was a mistake, we halted circulation and we propose to print a new, correct program for the return game with Manchester City,” Aris said Friday.
“Where’s Wally?” is an invention of a British illustrator and challenges readers to spot a young man wearing a red-and-white-striped sweater and hat in an illustration that typically contains many other characters at a given location.
The series, first published in 1987, has become popular in other countries, including “Where’s Waldo?” in the United States, “Ou est Charlie?” in France and “Where’s Hugo?” in Sweden.
Wally, or at least a man made to look like him, was found in the spoof City photo in the fourth row between England internationals James Milner and Joe Hart, complete in his usual attire.
Above him in the fifth row was AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of a host of world-class players to make the enlarged 87-man squad.
Others included Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi, Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo and striker Wayne Rooney, who plays for City rival Manchester United.
By STEVE DOUGLAS
Source: AP
