A Spanish court on Monday ordered French newspaper Le Monde to pay 15,000 euros ($20,000) in compensation to Barcelona Football Club for reporting it had links with a suspect in a doping scandal.
Spain's high court ordered the payment for reports in 2006 in which Le Monde said the club, current European champions, had links to Eufemanio Fuentes, a doctor under investigation for alleged doping in professional cycling.
Monday's decision upheld an earlier ruling by a Barcelona court which said the reports had damaged the club's honour. That ruling prompted a further appeal by Le Monde, which the court dismissed on Monday.
"Even if there was a heightened public interest in this subject, the information that was published was not truthful since it used inconsistent and unchecked data," the court said in a statement.
The newspaper had cited private documents belonging to the doctor which are being examined by the cycling doping probe.
"The sources and the checking carried out by the journalist were not sufficient to justify publishing a report whose seriousness and social importance could have brought discredit on the club," the court said.
Source: AFP
