Sport

Mason's debut goes step tattoo far

DodgyTackle

THE brief for Dodgy Tackle is simple - unearth weird and wonderful stories from the world of sport (no, not the one with Dickie Davis) and share them with our readers.

The only problem on Wednesday was separating the truth from the fiction.

Actually, it wasn't that much of a problem as you could spot an April Fool a mile off, like that one about Usain Bolt opening a jerk chicken stall in Belfast, or Sepp Blatter vowing to clean up Fifa, although the Daily Telegraph's line that aul' Sepp was going to invite Qatar to compete in Euro 2020 in order to wind up Michel Platini may have given the wily old Swiss an idea. After all, Jamaica are in this year's Copa America.

Unfortunately for Tottenham's inked midfielder Ryan Mason, his England debut was overshadowed by intense scrutiny about his tattooed arm.

The face which adorned Mason's arm looked very familiar to one viewer, who immediately tweeted: "Why does Ryan Mason have a tattoo of me when I was 12", before posting a picture of his 12-year-old self for comparison.

So when Mason may have been hoping to read about his first England appearance, 20,000 people were busy retweeting @ Danorako's observations.

Speaking of public art, a referee got all Banksy this week when officiating at the testimonial of former Brazil captain Alex. Alex, who played for a number of Brazilian clubs, as well as Fenerbahce in Turkey, cobbled together a number of former team-mates for the testimonial at Palmeiras.

When the man of the moment went to take a free-kick, the referee whipped out the now ubiquitous vanishing (no, not

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Breaks at 22? In my holidays I used to go out in a field and play football when I was 17, 18, 19, 20, a bit of five-a-side with my mates... I don't over-think the idea of having these long breaks. I think they'll be all right at 22."

Burnley manager Sean Dyche isn't too happy about star striker Danny Ings needing a break this summer. Yeah, Sean but at least your mum called you in for your tea and you stopped when it got dark.