Referee denies sexual harassment report

A member of the German football federation's refereeing committee denied media reports on Wednesday that he sexually harassed a younger colleague.

Manfred Amerell said the allegations printed in the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper are without foundation.

The 62-year-old former referee has voluntarily stood down from his duties in the match officials' organization on health grounds, the federation has confirmed.

"I am laughing myself silly," Amerell said. "The accusations are without foundations, invented and denied by me."

Amerell was a referees' representative in the committee and his duties included appointing match officials and promoting young referees.

The DFB was informed by the younger referee about the alleged harassment in December, according to media reports, but had not publicly mentioned it. It says it is now investigating the case.

Rainer Koch, one of the DFB's vice presidents whose responsibilities include matters related to refereeing, asked to be relieved of his duties Wednesday because he had been kept in the dark about the allegations.

The harassment case is the second major problem to rock the DFB inside a week, following the collapse of negotiations with German coach Joachim Loew over a contract extension.