The Court of Dusseldorf ruled in favour of the former president of the German Football Federation Theo Zwanziger on Tuesday, allowing him to call Qatar "a cancer on world football".
The court said in its ruling that Zwanziger did not commit libel and referred to the right to freedom of expression laid down in the German constitution, reports Efe.
Zwanziger had earlier referred in 2015 to Qatar as "a cancer on world football" in a radio interview about the awarding of the 2022 World Cup, which the Arab country will host in winter instead of summer.
The former president then said that a country "smaller than Hesse (a German state)," where "human rights are violated" and has "insufferable summer heat" should not organise a major global sporting event.
The Qatar Football Association filed a lawsuit against Zwanziger, but lost it on the grounds that the latter did not mean to insult the country.
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