Off the pitch, into court

The former refereeing official Manfred Amerell intends to sue Bundesliga referee Michael Kempter for damages.

Amerell's Munich-based lawyer Juergen Langer said that his client intended to take action after Kempter accused him of sexual harassment. Langer said his client would sue for defamation and slander for damages for an unspecified amount.

"It is about damage to personal rights," said Langer adding that his client had suffered greatly as a result of claims from Kempter.

"He (Kempter) has started an avalanche as a result of which Mr Amerell was greatly damaged," said Langer.

Challenge to Federation

The case is the latest to be brought by Amerall, a former refereeing advisor, who had intended to challenge the German Football Federation in connection with the accusations.

63-year-old Amerell, who resigned in February, had been taking the federation to court for releasing details of allegations made against him. He withdrew an application for an injunction against further publication of details on Thursday when the federation agreed to hand over affidavits in which four referees accused him of harassment.

There were high stakes ahead of the proceedings, with federation president Theo Zwanziger saying that he would step down if the case was lost.

'Unsporting conduct'

Meanwhile 27-year-old Kempter faces possible proceedings of unsporting conduct after Amerell revealed details of an email that was sent to him by the referee.

In it, Kempter allegedly appears to say that he hoped that Bayern Munich would lose a match against their European Champions League rivals AC Milan in April, 2007.

Amerell claims that affectionate terms used in emails sent to him indicate that the relationship was not one-sided. Kempter says that any terms of endearment were only used because he was under pressure to do so from Amerell.

rc/SID/dpa
Editor: Andreas Illmer