BERLIN (Germany): Former Chelsea attacker Salomon Kalou has been suspended by German club Hertha Berlin after posting a video showing him ignoring social distancing by shaking hands with teammates.
The Facebook video of Kalou, greeting Hertha players and club employees with handshakes was condemned by the German league.
“The pictures of Salomon Kalou from the Hertha dressing room are absolutely unacceptable,” the German Football League (DFL) said in a statement.
General manager Michael Preetz added: “With his video, Salomon Kalou has not only done a great deal of damage to Hertha BSC, but also created the impression that individual players are not taking the issue of coronavirus seriously, in a time of great discussion on the resumption of football and the role of the professional game.”
Hertha said they had suspended the 34-year-old Ivory Coast international “with immediate effect”.
Kalou, who won the Premier League with the Blues in 2010, apologised for his actions and said he should have known better because of his involvement in health projects in his homeland.
The Bundesliga, which is aiming to restart its season from May 16, said on Monday mass testing of players and backroom staff had produced 10 positive results.
Meanwhile, a new study out of Germany has suggested that the coronavirus infection rate there could be much higher than initially thought.
Some 1.8 million people could be infected nationwide, a quarter of them without symptoms.
The number of coronavirus infections in Germany could be 10 times higher than currently thought, researchers from the University of Bonn have concluded in the final edition of the much-discussed Heinsberg Report, which took a closer look at the effects of COVID-19 on a small community in Germany, reports dw.com.
