Summary Court ordered Sterba to pay 5,000 euros ($6,400, 4,200) in damages and interest to Noah.
PARIS (AFP) - 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 euros ($6,400, 4,200) in damages and interest to Noah and also imposed a suspended 800-euro 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 number three in the world.
