Barcelona accept defamation pay-out from radio

08 March 2012 17:17

Barcelona have accepted a 200,000-euro ($265,000) defamation settlement from Spanish radio station Cadena COPE over false doping allegations, the club said on Thursday.

Barcelona accepted the radio's pay-out and apology, dropping their initial claim for 6.19 million euros in damages and interest.

"We have come to the end, which is when the sued party surrenders. If we carried on it would only be for the money and our honour has no price. For this reason, we will give it to a good cause," Barca spokesman Toni Freixa told a news conference.

Barcelona had sued Cadena COPE over a broadcast on March 13, 2011, which reported comments falsely attributed to the club's rivals, Real Madrid, casting doubt on the integrity of Barca's doctors.

Last week, the station admitted its report was based on an unverified source and "turned out not to be true", offering the 200,000 euros in compensation for damages caused by the error.

In November, Spain's supreme court ordered the French newspaper Le Monde to pay 15,000 euros to Barcelona for a report that drew links between the club and Eufemanio Fuentes, a doctor involved in a doping scandal.

Source: AFP