LONDON -- Fulham says it will erect a statue of Michael Jackson at its stadium in southwest London to commemorate the late singer's friendship with the club's chairman.

The statue is scheduled to be unveiled on April 3, the same day the club faces Blackpool in a Premier League match.

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed says "Michael Jackson was truly a legend, a term used too often in this modern world saturated in the hyperbole surrounding celebrity. He was my friend, a man with whom I shared many happy memories and who died a tragic and untimely death."

Jackson died in 2009.



Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press