A Scottish newspaper identified on Sunday the British footballer who is reportedly using the courts to keep details of an alleged affair secret and who has already been named on Twitter. The Sunday Herald published a front page photograph of the player, albeit with his eyes blacked out, and "censored" written over the top.
Beneath the photograph they said: "Everyone knows this is the footballer accused of using the courts to keep allegations of a sexual affair secret."
The Sunday Herald was the first mainstream publication to identify the player.
A court injunction was originally sought to prevent Imogen Thomas, a star of a British television reality show, and UK newspapers from naming the player over an alleged affair.
But hundreds of messages appeared on social networking site Twitter, where the player said to have brought the action was named.
The married footballer, referred to as CTB in court documents, is said to have had a sexual relationship with Ms Thomas, whose identity the British media are free to reveal.
Now the player is taking legal action to force Twitter to give the details of users who broke a gagging order granting him anonymity.
The Sunday Herald, in an editorial, said it was "unsustainable" for newspapers not to be able to print information available on the internet.
It said: "We should point out immediately that we are not accusing the footballer concerned of any misdeed. Whether the allegations against him are true or not has no relevance to this debate.
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