VIENNA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - A hearing to decide a claim of
unfair dismissal and lost earnings brought by Lothar Matthaeus
against his former employers Rapid Vienna was adjourned and will
resume on January 23, an Austrian court said on Thursday.
Matthaeus, Germany's former World Cup-winning captain, was
fired from his coaching post by Rapid in May after a dismal
season in which the club slipped to their lowest position in
their 103-year history.
The judge cleared around nine hours of his schedule to
interview both the 41-year old ex-Bayern Munich midfielder and
Rapid manager Werner Kuhn in a bid to settle Matthaeus's claim,
said to be for more than 560,000 euros.
Matthaeus has refused to make any comments about the
financial details of the case, but Rapid president Rudolf
Edlinger told weekly magazine 'News' that Rapid would not be
making any offer or deal.
'We were not the ones who started this legal process, what
Mr. Matthaeus demands is monstrous,' Edlinger said.
Matthaeus's appointment at Rapid was his first managerial
position since retiring as a player at the end of 2000. He was sacked six months into his two-year contract.
Matthaeus, capped 150 times by his country, was initially
suspended and then dismissed on account of scathing comments
against the club in a magazine interview in which he referred to
the club, Austrian champions 30 times, as a 'snake-pit'.
- NEWS
