Naby Keita, the former Liverpool midfielder has been suspended by Werder Bremen until the end of the season and handed a “significant fine” for his refusal to travel with the team for Sunday’s Bundesliga match against Bayer Leverkusen.
The club stated that Keita, 29, opted to return home after learning he would not be included in the starting lineup.
The 29-year-old former Liverpool midfielder was absent from a 5-0 defeat at the Bay Arena, with his club asserting that he opted “not to travel to the ground with the team and instead decided to go home” upon learning he was not in the starting lineup.
In an official statement on the club’s website, Werder Bremen announced: “Naby Keita has been suspended until the end of the season, and the midfielder has been issued a significant fine.”
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Additionally, the statement specified that Guinea international Keita “will no longer participate in team training sessions or be present in the first-team dressing room.”
Clemens Fritz, Bremen’s head of professional football, remarked: “As a club, we cannot tolerate Naby’s actions.”
“As a club, we won’t tolerate Naby’s behavior. He let his team down in a time of difficulty surrounding our recent run of form and squad availability and put his own interests above those of the team. We can’t allow that, At this stage of the season, we need full focus on the remaining games and a team who stick together. That’s why we’ve been left with no alternative.”
Naby Laye Keïta is a Guinean professional footballer renowned for his role as a central midfielder at Bundesliga club Werder Bremen. Additionally, he holds the captaincy for the Guinea national team.