Pavel Bure was the first man to sleep with Anna Kournikova

Pavel Bure, a well-known Russian hockey player, a star of NHL, sued Arbat Prestige - the network of perfume stores in Moscow. The hockey player believes that Arbat Prestige wrote a rather humiliating article about his relationship with tennis star Anna Kournikova. According to Bure, the article, which was published in the corporate newspaper of the perfume-selling company, insulted his honor and dignity. The athlete evaluated the moral at 300 million rubles and filed a suit at one of the Moscow courts.

"We filed a moral damage lawsuit on January 31st. It goes about the article, which was published in the corporate magazine of Arbat Prestige perfume-selling company. The story said that Pavel Bure was constantly boasting of his own sexual accomplishments. According to the article, Pavel Bure secretly told everyone that he was the first man to sleep with Anna Kournikova," Bure's lawyer, Dmitry Ragulin, told the Gazeta newspaper.

The article was published on December 27th, 2004, when Pavel Bure was opening a charitable hockey tournament for children.

"We do not have the lawsuit, that is why we can not comment on the matter," a spokesman for the legal service of Arbat Prestige said. "We have not notified the company of our action yet. But we will definitely send copies of all documents to them. An amicable agreement is not ruled out at this point, though. The company would have to show initiative, apologize and reject the shameful information. A financial compensation for the moral damage would also be reasonable," Dmitry Ragulin said.

Pavel Bure said that he had learned about the article from his friends. The sportsman said that he never liked anyone misinterpreting his words or ascribing him the things that he never said. "There was direct speech in the article, which contained rather obscene words," he said.

Two years ago the hockey player won $10,000 in the dispute with the Exile newspaper. A scandalous story in the tabloid said that Pavel Bure was tired of sleeping with Kournikova because she had two vaginas.

The hockey player believes that it is highly unprofessional and immoral to ascribe lies to someone. "I do not discuss my private life. It is private. We can talk about anything, but the private life. I do not need this money. I am sure that I will win. It is hard to lose when people lie - it will be just another lesson for those journalists, who do not even hesitate to lie. Last time I spent the money on charity, and I will do the same again," Pavel Bure said.