Ex-umpire fined for Noah slur

Paris - Former international tennis umpire Milan Sterba was on Tuesday ordered to pay damages to Yannick Noah for falsely claiming in a newspaper interview that the French former player took performance-enhancing drugs.

A court in Paris told Sterba, who was not present at the hearing, to pay €5 000 in damages and interest to Noah and also imposed a suspended €800 fine.

Sterba's claims were made in a March 2011 interview on the Swiss Internet site 20 Minutes and related to Noah's victory at the 1983 French Open.

At a previous hearing on February 19, Noah's lawyer William Bourdon said the comments were "undeniably defamatory" against the popular singles and Davis Cup player, who was once ranked No 3 in the world.