The Royal Gazette published an article on Saturday, 4 June 2011 that was written by our columnist Mr. Clyde Best entitled “Votes Scandal could affect Bermuda”.The article contained statements that were attributed to BFA President Larry Mussenden. It also made some assertions about Mr. Mussenden and how he voted in the recent FIFA elections. Mr. Mussenden considered that the article was libelous against him in his view as it contained a number of untrue statements.He requested that we issue an apology and a retraction of the story failing which he stated that he would commence legal proceedings against The Royal Gazette for libel seeking damages and costs.He also requested that The Royal Gazette remove the offending article from our website (www.royal gazette.com). We have now had a chance to review the article in the light of Mr. Mussenden’s stated concerns and we are advised by our legal counsel that there are aspects of the article that could be construed as defamatory of Mr. Mussenden.We accept that there are aspects of the article which we are unable to substantiate.The Royal Gazette has no hesitation in complying with the request by Mr. Mussenden. The Royal Gazette now unreservedly apologizes to Mr. Mussenden for the defamatory statements contained in the article. Furthermore, the Royal Gazette now retracts the article. Also, we have removed the article from our website. We sincerely trust that the character and reputation of Mr. Mussenden have not been tarnished in any way as a result of the publication of the article by us.The Royal Gazette seeks always to adhere to modern standards of journalism. We acknowledge that we fell below acceptable standards in allowing the publication of the article in the form that we did. However, we remain committed to maintaining and exceeding such journalistic standards in every publication.