Rabbi Matondo Apologises To Schalke After Being Pictured Wearing Borussia Dortmund Shirt In Training

Schalke 04 winger Rabbi Matondo says he is "very sad" and "disappointed" in himself after he was pictured wearing the shirt of arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund.

The 19-year-old, who joined the Bundesliga side in a £11 million deal from Manchester City last year, was snapped wearing the jersey during a private training session in Cardiff, and the images eventually ended up being posted on Instagram.

Image: Instagram

In a statement on his official Twitter account, Matondo admits he was "naive" to wear the shirt given to him by Dortmund winger and friend Jadon Sancho.

"Addressing the pictures circulated on social media of me in the shirt of our biggest rivals, I am very sad and disappointed in myself for letting everyone associated with Schalke down." Matondo said.

"I want to clear this situation up and most importantly to apologise to everyone at the club, in particular our incredible fans, causing such hurt and upset was absolutely not my intention.

"Being completely transparent - I naively wore the shirt for a private, personal training session,' the statement continued.

"The shirt was my very close friend Jadon Sancho's shirt. I wore it because it was Jadon's, and not because of anything to do with Dortmund.

"I did this not thinking of the consequences and how upset I would make a lot of people. There's no excuse for my immaturity.

"I just want to say how deeply sorry I am to everyone offended and upset by my actions.

"I can only promise everyone at the club that I am 100 per cent committed to Schalke and always have been since joining the club. I've loved every single minute of being a Schalke player and my love for the club, fans and my team-mates will never go.

"I will always give everything I have when I represent the club to show how much I love Schalke 04. Rabbi."

As you can imagine, the post was met with fury from fans and after the picture emerged online, Schalke's sporting director Jochen Schneider contacted Matondo about his actions.

"I made it clear to Rabbi Matondo on the phone what I thought of such a rash action. He is only 19 years old but he should not have allowed this to happen." he told Sky Germany.

"We clearly told him that he had to show the right reaction to his misconduct on and off the pitch."

Thoughts on Matondo's actions?

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Topics: Football News, Football, Borussia Dortmund, Shirt

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_