Real Madrid and Germany defender Antonio Rudiger filed a criminal complaint against Julian Reichelt for linking a post about Ramadan by the football player to the Daesh/ISIS terror group.
Der Spiegel, the German weekly news magazine, reported that Rudiger and the German football body, DFB, took legal action against the former Bild editor-in-chief.
Rudiger, 31, a devout Muslim, posted a picture on Instagram of himself in a white robe on a prayer mat, with his right index finger pointing toward the sky as he wished Muslims a blessed Ramadan.
"Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslims around the world. May the almighty accept our fasting and prayers," he wrote in the March 11 post when the Islamic holy month of Ramadan began.
Reichelt wrote March 23 on X that the German central defender "shows the Islamists' ISIS salute," referring to Rudiger's post.
The Interior Ministry said Rudiger's tawhid gesture, or asserting the oneness of God, "is to be understood as a profession of faith and can therefore be categorized as unproblematic in terms of public safety.
"This applies regardless of the fact that Islamist groups are appropriating this symbol and misusing it for their own purposes," it added.
Rudiger is one of the best-known players in Europe as he previously played for Stuttgart, Roma and Chelsea before joining Real Madrid in 2022.
He won the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League titles with Chelsea.
Rudiger has amassed 67 international caps for Germany since 2014.
