A German court has upheld the right of Theo Zwanziger, a former member of FIFA’s executive committee, to call Qatar “a cancerous growth on world football,” according to media reports.

Yesterday’s ruling follows a preliminary decision issued in February to dismiss the libel lawsuit brought forward by the Qatar Football Association. Last year, Qatar’s embassy in Germany said that Qatar is “open to objective criticism and controversial discussion” but argued that freedom of expression “does not include the right to defame and insult.”