Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Marco Reus fined €540,000 for driving without a licence

Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus has been fined 540,000 euros (426,000 pounds) for repeatedly driving without a licence, his club have confirmed.

The Germany international received the penalty order by Dortmund prosecution two weeks ago, according to a report in Bild, which broke the story on Thursday morning.

Earlier this year, Reus was asked for identification by local police when driving through the Ruhr city but could not produce a driver's licence, the report said. A call to police HQ confirmed that the Dortmund attacker was not in possession of a driving licence.

WDR, a public-broadcasting institution, has since reported that the 25-year-old had actually presented "a forged Dutch driver's licence" and cited the penalty order as proof.

The Dortmund prosecution neither confirmed nor denied the WDR accusation over the forged licence, while BVB CEO Aki Watzke said in Die Welt: "I won't comment on it."

Reus had previously been fined for speeding five times, but it was not known that he was not eligible to drive.

"The defendant has been charged with driving without a driving licence in six cases," a Dortmund chief prosecutor said, and added that he has been handed 90 daily fines, with the total reaching 540,000 euros.

Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said the club had been unaware of the situation and would otherwise have helped him.

"We could not do that, because we did not know it," Klopp told a news conference ahead of his side's match against Werder Bremen.

Reus, who has accepted and paid the penalty order according to Klopp, told Bild: "Today I know that I have been way too naive over the situation. That was a stupidity. I have learned my lessons from it. Something like that will never happen to me again."

The Germany international added that he started taking driving lessons at the age of 18, but did not take a test. "Sadly, that was my decision at that time. I am not able to comprehend the reasons today," he said.

Klopp added at the news conference: "At one point in his life, Marco took a wrong turn as a very young lad. That's a really stupid story, and there is no way out until your cover is blown. That happened, and that's good, and he is getting an extraordinarily strong punishment for it, but that's also OK."

The club's media director, Sascha Fligge, told the dpa news agency: "We have talked to Marco Reus, and he realises his mistake, and has labelled it stupidity. He has promised that it will not happen again."

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