Gomez escapes ban but fined for insulting opponent

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Germany striker Mario Gomez escaped a ban but has been hit with an 8,000-euro fine (12,000 US dollars) for insulting Karlsruhe defender Maik Franz after a Bundesliga match on the weekend.

The 22-year-old VfB Stuttgart striker slammed Franz after the pair clashed on several occasions during Karlsruhe's 3-1 defeat in Stuttgart on Saturday.

But having later admitted on his website he was wrong to criticise Franz in such strong language, Gomez took the fine, handed out by the German Football Federation (DFB), on the chin.

"I accept the punishment, because I made a mistake in my choice of words in an interview immediately after playing. For me the whole thing is now finished," he told German agency SID.

Germany's player of the...