Ramzy dismissed by Kaiserslautern

German 1. Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern announced on Friday that they have dismissed defender Hany Ramzy after the Egyptian international was convicted of sexual harassment.

Immediate effect
Ramzy was handed an eight-month prison sentence for sexual harassment on 14 February but was subsequently released on probation. The 32-year-old was accused of having sexually harassed a woman in a nightclub and Kaiserslautern were only made aware of the sentence by a German newspaper. Ramzy denied the reports when questioned about the incident after Sunday's training but, once the story was confirmed, the club's board decided to dismiss Ramzy with immediate effect.

'Sporting qualities'
In an official press release, the Kaiserslautern board said: "Hany Ramzy will no longer be playing for 1. FC Kaiserslautern. This decision was made despite the club's appraisal for Ramzy's sporting qualities, and the enormous impact this loss will have for both the club and the team for this crucial final part of the season."

'Major problems'
The captain of the Egyptian national team has been with Kaiserslautern for four years and has played a key role in the club's recent successes. He spent four seasons with Neuchâtel Xamax FC in Switzerland and moved to SV Werder Bremen in 1994, before arriving at Kaiserslautern in 1998. The news of Ramzy's dismissal came as a blow to his team-mates. Goalkeeper Georg Koch said: "This is very bad for us. I didn't have the faintest idea about the story. This will cause major problems for the entire team."