BERLIN — Germany and Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus has been fined 540,000 euros ($673,000) for repeatedly driving without a license, a German newspaper reported Thursday.
Dortmund prosecutor Henner Kruse told the Bild daily that Reus was fined because he’s accused of deliberately driving without a license six times between September 2011 and March this year.
Reus told Bild that he was "far too naive, that was stupid" and pledged it won’t happen again. Bild reported that the 25-year-old Reus took driving lessons when he was 18 but never took a test and then drove without a license.
"Unfortunately I decided back then to go this way," Reus said. "I can’t even understand the reasons myself today."
Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said he was surprised by Reus’ actions and the club had known nothing about them.
Klopp described what the player did as "a stupid story that there’s no real way out of until you get caught. He was, and that’s right. He’s getting an unusually high punishment for it, and that is also fine."
"Now we will draw a line under this and things will carry on as normal," Klopp said.
The player is currently sidelined with an ankle injury.
