Klinsmann's crucifix lawsuit dismissed

• by Soccer America , Apr 22, 2009

[GERMANY] A Munich tribunal dismissed Juergen Klinsmann's $130,000 suit against the newspaper Tageszeitung for depicting the Bayern Munich coach as a crucified Jesus in a photo montage under the headline "Always look on the bright side of life" (the song title from a Monty Python film). It ruled "It was not at all a real crucifixion," but satire.

"This type of representation is to be classed in the domain of satire, or, more specifically, caricature," read the judgment. "It was not at all a real crucifixion. The complainant's professional decline is instead represented in symbolic fashion."

The photo montage appeared on the front page of the newspaper on Easter, after Klinsmann had been pilloried in the media following Bayern's 5-1 loss to Wolfsburg and 4-0 loss to Barcelona.