Wales forward Rabbi Matondo issued an apology on Wednesday to supporters of his Bundesliga club Schalke over a social media post of him training in a Cardiff gym wearing the shirt of arch rivals Borussia Dortmund.
“I want to be
honest: I was naive and put on the shirt for a private training session. It was
from my close friend Jadon Sancho. I only wore it because of Jadon, it had
nothing to do with Dortmund,” the Welshman wrote on Instagram.
The 19-year-old
said he pulled on the yellow shirt bearing the name of England winger Sancho
without thinking “about the consequences and that it would upset many people.
“There is no excuse
for this immature behaviour.”
The post of Matondo
in a Dortmund shirt caused uproar among Schalke fans, many of whom called for
him to leave the Royal Blues.
“I would like to
apologise to everyone who was annoyed or insulted by my behaviour,” the
19-year-old added.
“I can promise
every supporter that from day one, I have identified 100 percent with Schalke.
“I will always give
everything when I run out for Schalke to prove how much I love the club.”
On Tuesday, Schalke
sports director Jochen Schneider had said he made it “very clear” to the Wales
international what he thought of his “ill-considered action”.
Gelsenkirchen-based
Schalke are just 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Dortmund, and there is no love
lost between the clubs in the Ruhr Valley, the industrial heartland of western
Germany.
Matondo managed two goals in 20 matches last season as Schalke stumbled to 12th in the Bundesliga table after having been third in December.