Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Florian Neuhaus has been fined and banished from the first team after being filmed while appearing to mock the Bundesliga club's sporting director.
In a video posted on social media, Neuhaus could be seen talking to several people wearing Gladbach kits about sporting director Roland Virkus.
The 28-year-old appeared to call Virkus "the worst manager in the world" and referenced the sporting director's role in deciding his annual salary of €4 million ($4.71m).
Gladbach said they had imposed a "heavy" fine on Neuhaus and suspended him from training with the first team for four weeks, with German daily Bild reporting the fine was worth around €100,000.
"The behaviour and statements of Florian Neuhaus are damaging to the club and unacceptable," Gladbach's CEO Stefan Stegemann said in a statement on Thursday.
"He has damaged the club with his words and deeply disappointed the people involved, which is not compatible with the values of the club."
Neuhaus joined Gladbach in 2017 and has made over 200 appearances in all competitions for the club, but mainly featured as a substitute last season and played just 17 times in the league as they finished 10th.