Fulham Unveils Michael Jackson Statue (PHOTOS)

LONDON — Fulham unveiled a statue of Michael Jackson outside its stadium on Sunday, with team chairman Mohamed Al Fayed telling fans to support another Premier League club if they don't like the idea.

Al Fayed, who was close friends with Jackson, danced with children after unveiling the statue of the "King of Pop" before Fulham's home match against Blackpool.

The statue outside Craven Cottage has divided opinion, but Al Fayed launched a passionate defense of his move to commemorate his friendship with Jackson, who died in 2009.

"Why is it bizarre?" he said. "Football fans love it. If some stupid fans don't understand and appreciate such a gift, they can go to hell.

"I don't want them to be fans. If they don't understand and don't believe in things I believe in, they can go to Chelsea, they can go to anywhere else."

Chelsea, the defending English champion, is the nearest Premier League team to Fulham, with both clubs located in southwest London.

"People will queue to come and visit it from all over Britain and it is something that I and everybody else should be proud of," Al Fayed said.

The statue had been slated to be erected outside Harrods department store, but those plans were shelved when Al Fayed sold the business last year.

The singer attended a Fulham match in 1999.

Sunday's game was not a thriller with Fulham beating Blackpool 3-0.

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Comments

[Rutilus Publicola]

04:05 AM on 04/05/2011

looks like robin williams in that robot movie nobody saw..

[veritas88]

06:49 PM on 04/04/2011

cool.

[ColeBee]

03:50 PM on 04/04/2011

C'mon Detroit, its time for the RoboCop statue. You cant be outdone by this...

[kapalabhati]

09:59 AM on 04/04/2011

Now THAT'S random.

[StAlphonso]

09:12 AM on 04/04/2011

Chelsea plans on unveiling it's statue honoring Roman Polański next week.

[Seaniebhoy]

08:34 AM on 04/04/2011

It’s quite bizarre really. Michael Jackson has no connection with Fulham or Craven Cottage & the statue it self looks like you might find it in a bin outside of a poorly funded wax museum

[sannad]

03:11 AM on 04/04/2011

Is this really sports news? Why is this even posted?

[KIVPossum]

08:08 AM on 04/04/2011

Close to sports as the appendectomy article

[Seaniebhoy]

04:40 PM on 04/04/2011

Other than the fact that it is outside of Craven Cottage...I have no idea

[Blackorpheus]

01:02 AM on 04/04/2011

What was Michael Jackson's sport again?

[Jesterband]

03:13 AM on 04/04/2011

I'm not sure, wasn't he in some sort of competition with Catholic priests?

[veritas88]

06:50 PM on 04/04/2011

No, but perhaps your father was.

[Cinemaniac21]

11:44 PM on 04/03/2011

The Philadelphia Phillies need to erect a statue of Vanilla Ice in front of Citizens Bank Park.

[Ramon Moreno]

10:53 PM on 04/03/2011

I voted for Elvis.

[Anne Duchard]

10:34 PM on 04/03/2011

Mr Al Fayed, on behalf of all of Michael's Jackson fans I thank you.

[FlangeSqueal]

11:09 AM on 04/04/2011

Yeah - both of them.

[ExcellentObservation]

10:27 PM on 04/03/2011

I've got no problem with Michael Jackson, I think he was a very misunderstood character in his life. But this is a strange decision to say the least. Fayad has become a bit eccentric in his later years, and this seems to follow out of that. The problem I have with it overall is that Fulham as a club has been in existence for probably 100 years and has it's own tradition and history, just like any club does. Fayad has owned the club for probably 20 years, again, approx. He really has no right to place such a personal thing in the character of the club, it's really not fair and is not appropriate for him to do. The fans ultimately 'own' the club, and this kind of thing has no place being imposed upon them. It seems he has lost the plot.

[floodmfx]

08:54 PM on 04/03/2011

the king of pop - cheesy even in death

[veritas88]

06:51 PM on 04/04/2011

never.

[Dr Night]

08:53 PM on 04/03/2011

'm sure Al Fayed has the best intentions in honoring his friend. But when I hear "statue" I tend to think bronze or granite. The full color rendering is a bit creepy.

[kwapiv]

08:44 PM on 04/03/2011

More power to him. His team, his money, his stadium, if you don't like it don't come :) somewhat brash but I respect his candidness.