A Scottish Sunday newspaper has become the first UK mainstream media title to name a footballer who allegedly took out a privacy injunction over claims of an extra-marital affair.

The Sunday Herald yesterday published a photograph of the player on its front page, his eyes covered by a black bar featuring the word ‘censored.’

Editor Richard Walker said it was “ridiculous” that newspapers were prevented from sharing information freely available on the internet.

The player’s name had already been widely circulated on the US-based social networking website Twitter.  Neither Twitter nor the Herald are subject to the jurisdiction of the English courts.

Said Richard:  “It seems to us a ludicrous situation where we are supposed to keep from our readers the identity of someone who anybody can find out on the internet at the click of a mouse, and in fact many people have already done so.”

“We have the right of freedom of expression and the right to debate these issues. I think the publication in today’s paper will bring the matter to a head.”

Herald legal adviser Paul McBride added: “Every child in the country with a mobile phone can now access Twitter or the internet and find out who this individual is, and the idea that the media cannot report it is frankly absurd.”

The player, who an injunction says can only be identified as CTB, is involved in proceedings against former Miss Wales and ex-Big Brother star Imogen Thomas and the Sun newspaper.

In an editorial explaining the move, the Sunday Herald said it named the sportsman because it was “unsustainable” for newspapers to be prevented from sharing information which is easily available on the internet.

It said: “Whether the allegations against him are true or not has no relevance to this debate. The issue is one of freedom of information and of a growing argument in favour of more restrictive privacy laws.”

However the newspaper’s website is not carrying the name of the footballer or the picture used on its front page.

The footballer is one of a number of celebrities who have taken out so-called super-injunctions – court orders that prevent the media from revealing even the fact that an injunction has been granted.