Nedum Onuoha’s mum devastated by vile email
By SHAUN CUSTIS
Published: Today
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THE cancer-stricken mother of Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha has been left 'humiliated and devastated' following a callous e-mail she believes was sent by the club's chief executive, Garry Cook.
Dr Anthonia Onuoha, who acts as Nedum's agent, last night sent official letters of complaint to the FA and Premier League about the e-mail she received during her year-long fight against cancer.
Cook has denied sending the message, explaining his e-mail system was broken into and a full internal inquiry has been launched at City to find the culprit.
The offensive e-mail emerged after Dr Anthonia wrote to City's football administrator, Brian Marwood, about a contract dispute her son was having with the club.
In October last year she e-mailed Marwood explaining that, while her body might be "ravaged with cancer and ongoing chemotherapy" she still had her wits about her to argue Nedum's case.
Two weeks later Dr Anthonia received an e-mail — which appeared to be from Cook and was meant for Marwood — but was instead sent to her.
The e-mail was addressed 'Brian' then said: "Ravaged with it!!......I don't now how you sleep at night. You used to be such a nice man when I worked with you at nike (sic)."
A devastated Dr Anthonia replied to Cook the following day saying: "Thanks very much for your insightful e-mail."
Cook responded, saying he hadn't sent the offending e-mail and that his e-mail account had been hacked while he was on holiday in South Africa for 10 days.
He insisted that, following an internal investigation, he had learned a member of his staff had sent the e-mail to Marwood as a joke.
He told Dr Anthonia: "I cannot and will not condone this unacceptable behaviour. I can confirm Brian did not receive this e-mail and disciplinary action is currently underway regarding one of our employees."
Cook also apologised for "any hurt or embarrassment this may have caused".
Dr Anthonia said: "When I opened up my e-mails and saw the message, it was the worst day of my life, even worse than being diagnosed with cancer.
"I couldn't understand how anybody could behave like that. I just cried and cried for hours.
"I'm critically ill and at that point I was undergoing chemotherapy. I was just so shocked but I couldn't tell Nedum or any of my family because I didn't know how they would react.
"It's incredible that any human being would write this. It's unforgivable and I still cannot believe it.
"When Cook replied to me, he said that he was confused, that he'd been away on holiday in South Africa and that somebody had hacked into his e-mail account and that whoever sent the e-mail to Brian Marwood meant it as a practical joke.
"It was all very stressful at the time, in fact it still is.
"The illness I have is very stressful, I'm having chemotherapy and radiotherapy, including having radiotherapy on my brain and this year has been traumatic. I didn't want anybody adding to my stress but that is what they've done.
"The feeling of humiliation still persists. Now I just want the FA and the Premier League to see what's happened and to take the appropriate action. Treating people like this is completely abominable."
Dr Onuoha has represented her son from the beginning of his career and even received a hand-written note of thanks from Cook after negotiating Nedum's contract in 2009.
She added: "He thanked me for the way the negotiations were handled and wished everybody he dealt with was as professional.
"Yet things have changed at City from the time when Nedum joined. He was a ball boy there and he loves the club and wouldn't do anything to harm City.
"I have seen a different side of how the club operates."
This is not the first time Cook has been linked with an horrendous gaffe. Infamously, he dubbed Kaka a 'bottler' after the Brazilian superstar turned down a move to City and claimed former owner Thaksin Shinawatra was 'a good guy to play a round of golf with'.
Cook was also at the centre of a PR storm when Roberto Mancini admitted he had been approached by City weeks before Mark Hughes was sacked.
Cook denied this but controversy has dogged his footsteps since joining the club in 2008.
Recently, however, Cook has insisted City operate in a manner that does not bring embarrassment to owner Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi royal family.
Publicly and privately, he has been at pains to ensure City's behaviour does nothing to damage the reputation of the Gulf state.
But with official letters of complaint now with the FA and Premier League, City's reputation is in jeopardy.
CityGer wrote:Interesting that it has taken nearly a year for this to come out...
He'll end up getting freed over this and it will be job done for Mr Jorabchian.
In October last year she e-mailed Marwood explaining that, while her body might be "ravaged with cancer and ongoing chemotherapy" she still had her wits about her to argue Nedum's case.
Two weeks later Dr Anthonia received an e-mail — which appeared to be from Cook and was meant for Marwood — but was instead sent to her.
The e-mail was addressed 'Brian' then said: "Ravaged with it!!......I don't now how you sleep at night. You used to be such a nice man when I worked with you at nike (sic)."
Dr Anthonia said: "When I opened up my e-mails and saw the message, it was the worst day of my life, even worse than being diagnosed with cancer.
ant london wrote:which part don't you understand????
Alioune DVToure wrote:Kladze's right to be confused. It doesn't make sense as reported. Here's my theory (and it's nothing more than that):
Dr Onuoha sent an email to Marwood and copied in Cook. Cook sees Marwood's name on the email and assumes that his colleague has FORWARDED him an email from Dr Onuoha. He hits reply (not reply to all) thinking he's sending his quip to Marwood, but he's actually replying to the original sender, Dr Onuoha.
If there's a perfectly innocent explanation, fair enough. But this looks like a colossal fuck up. I suspect, with some regret, that he's said "how are ya, brother?" for the last time.
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