Chelsea forward SUSPENDED after row with coach
Tom Weber
- Updated: 26 Oct 2023 12:47 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea loanee David Datro Fofana has been suspended by Union Berlin, the club have announced.
Like the Bundesliga side as a whole, Fofana has had a tough time lately. Despite immediately being considered a starter and key player by head coach Urs Fischer, the Ivorian's performances haven't been up to scratch lately and he has been relegated to a peripheral role.
He did, however, feature from the beginning in Union's Champions League fixture against Napoli - but he made sure that this may have just been his last start for the Berlin side. The 20-year-old reacted angrily to being substituted and refused to shake Fischer's hand.
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Union have been incredibly unlucky in Europe this term - conceding late goals against Real Madrid and Braga - and they would go on to lose 1-0 to Napoli after having a goal disallowed earlier on. Fofana actually looked promising in the game, but he did himself no favours by losing his temper.
Apology not good enough
Fofana apologised afterwards, writing: “Following my behaviour during my exit from the field, I wanted to apologise to the club, the coach, my teammates and the supporters. This gesture was not intended and in no way does it represent my attitude, all this was generated as a result of frustration because I wanted to continue helping the team to obtain a positive result."
Union have lost nine games on the bounce despite high-profile summer reinforcements, and they will now have to make do without Fofana for the next two fixtures. Communications manager Christian Arbeit has confirmed that, despite his apology, the Chelsea loanee has been suspended for a week and will train alone.
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Urs Fischer noted that football is a team sport and that players need to accept decisions even if they don't like it. The coach stated that he hopes the young forward will learn from his mistake.
