Former Capital Football boss Heather Reid is suing a Canberra soccer coach for defamation over a "relentless and repetitive attack" in a series of Facebook posts that accused her of financial mismanagement and gender bias.
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Ms Reid launched action in the ACT Supreme Court against Stan Dukic for nine social media posts she said contained "totally false
allegations".
The court was told on Friday the online attack had contributed to Ms Reid's decision to step down after 12 years as chief executive of the sporting organisation in March amid an ongoing torrent of abuse, harassment and threats.
She is seeking up to $200,000 damages.
Barrister Matthew Lewis said Ms Reid had suffered bullying in person and on social media for about four years and felt she had no choice but to sue Mr Dukic after the posts were brought to her attention in 2014.
"I thought they were quite ridiculous, they were completely false," she said.
"They had allegations in there I was completely bemused about.
"At first I thought it was a joke, but then I realised it was relentless and repetitive attack."
The court was told the posts claimed Ms Reid was incompetent and cast doubt over her professional integrity, alleging she was out of touch and favoured the female form of the game.
She said further allegations she had misappropriated funds from the organisation had been a "slur" on her reputation.
Ms Reid grew emotional as she gave evidence she'd tried to ignore the posts, which were seen by colleagues and soccer club officials, but the claims took an emotional toll and made her feel defenceless and agitated.
The posts had since been removed but Mr Dukic had not apologised.
The court heard Mr Dukic was a soccer coach but was unregistered, which meant the organisation could not take disciplinary action against him for breaching its social media policy.
Mr Dukic has not filed a defence to Ms Reid's defamation claim and he did not front the hearing before Justice John Burns.
The court was read an email in which Mr Dukic declared he would go bankrupt rather than pay damages.
Mr Lewis pushed for a permanent injunction against Mr Dukic and said his conduct in the case had been "completely reprehensible".
He said Mr Dukic, in a recent email exchange with Ms Reid's lawyers, had threatened the plaintiff: "I'm not done with you yet."
Justice Burns reserved his decision.
