Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has upset Australian authors by planning renovations of his home in Sydney.
The Australian international is set to spend about $AUD2.9million on a swimming pool, three-car garage and glass pavilion in his Watsons Bay waterfront home and his plans have angered senior figures who feel he should not alter the residence which used to belong to famous Australian writer Christina Stead.
Schwarzer's plans have been approved and the decision has angered many writers, including Jonathan Franzen who said: "Christina Stead gave the world one of the truly great novels (The Man Who Loved Children) of the 20th century, and although she moved the setting of it to America at the insistence of her American publisher, its heart is clearly in Watsons Bay," Franzen said.
But Schwarzer's solicitor, Carl Reid, has defended the football star.
"The simple fact is, this is a compliant development and it is within the controls," he said.
