Asia-Pacific News

Singapore football fans cry foul over parakeet Mani's final pick

Jul 10, 2010, 15:40 GMT

Singapore - Singapore parakeet Mani may have shot to international fame as a rival to German oracle Paul the octopus, but football fans cried foul on Saturday over the bird's selection of the Netherlands to win the World Cup.

A video posted on the internet Friday showed Mani stepping out of his cage and choosing a piece of paper with the Dutch flag when asked who will be the 2010 World Cup champions.

But just three days earlier Singapore daily The New Paper ran photographs of the same bird picking up the Spain card when asked which of the teams left in the competition would win the final.

The feathered psychic's apparent change of heart did not go down well with football fans, who gave vent to their anger on local websites.

'There can't be two teams lifting the World Cup,' said one, noting that he was shocked to see the contradictory pictures.

'Mani will surely uphold his reputation after the World Cup because he had foreseen both teams sharing the cup, probably the first in history,' the comment added.

On popular website Stomp, 59 per cent of the readers said they were enraged to learn of Mani's fickleness.

'So can another psychic animal predict who wins, the psychic octopus or the parakeet,' said one comment, as octopus Paul had picked Spain to lift the cup.

Others questioned the integrity of Mani's owner, a clairvoyant named M. Muniyappan, as he had raised his rates from 10 Singapore dollars (7.23 US dollars) for a horoscope to 50 Singapore dollars for a World Cup prediction, according to media reports.

'Mani will become a very famous parrot - which also means fame and fortune for its owner,' said one internet comment.