Sportsman JIH extends gagging order

A well-known sportsman yesterday succeeded in extending a 'super injunction' granting him anonymity in relation to information concerning his private life just two hours before it expired.

However, the man, referred to in court papers only as 'JIH', faces an uphill struggle to avoid being named.

The judge in the case, Mr Justice Tugendhat, first overturned JIH's anonymity injunction on November 5. But the person's identity was protected for another 14 days to give him a chance to lodge an appeal.

The nub of JIH's case is the conflict between two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. JIH is invoking Article 8, claiming that his "right to respect for his private and family life" would be compromised if it became known that he had obtained an injunction.

However, Article 10 guarantees individuals - and the press - freedom of expression, and Tugendhat said he was not satisfied that the sportsman's right to privacy overrides this. "It is not possible to do perfect justice to all parties and to the public at the same time," he said.

On November 19, JIH's lawyers went back to court and argued that media reporting of the case had gone into such detail that if the footballer was named, there was a risk the allegations against him would become apparent.

Tugendhat dismissed this objection, describing the nature of the reporting as "lacking all detail".

Sticking to his November 5 decision to withdraw anonymity, he said that "the general principle of open justice provides sufficient public interest in publishing a report of proceedings which identifies [JIH] to justify any resulting curtailment of the rights of [JIH] and his family in respect of their private and family life".

Tugendhat gave JIH until 4pm yesterday to lodge an appeal: his lawyers filed papers just two hours before the deadline.

The tabloid press will now have to wait up to eight weeks before JIH's appeal is heard, which leaves open the possibility of a New Year tabloid feeding frenzy.

Should JIH be unmasked by the Court of Appeal in January, his naming will come a year to the month after Mr Justice Tugendhat stripped Chelsea and England captain John Terry of anonymity, leading to revelations that he had an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the former girlfriend of his team mate Wayne Bridge. ·