Skip to main content

Borussia Dortmund's injury-prone midfielder Sebastian Rode is facing a fine over comments he made during a recent TV appearance.

The 27-year-old was discussing the future of the club's manager Peter Stöger, when he claimed that the under-fire head coach would be replaced this summer - something which has been highly speculated in recent weeks.

"We assume that," Rode told Sky about Stöger's rumoured exit. "We're sure we'll have a new one next season."

fc-schalke-04-v-borussia-dortmund-bundesliga-5af014723467acfc03000004.jpg

But Rode's comments haven't gone down well with officials back in Dortmund. The club's CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, confirmed that he would sit down with the midfielder this week before imposing a sanction - which is expected to be a fine.

"We will ask him for a conversation and sanction him accordingly," Watzke told Monday's edition of Kicker.

Borussia Dortmund have been without Rode since before a ball was even kicked in the Bundesliga this season, with his only appearance coming in the club's defeat in the German Super Cup back in August.

Dortmund are expected to have a managerial makeover this summer, with names like Julian Nagelsmann, Lucien Favre and most recently André Villas-Boas all being linked with the job in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The club will also be faced with preparing for life without Roman Weidenfeller next season. The German goalkeeper was an unused substitute against Mainz on Saturday in what could have been his last ever appearance at the Westfalenstadion after 16 years in Dortmund.