Ribery fined for foul-mouthed online tirade

Bayern Munich has handed French footballer Franck Ribery a "heavy fine" for his profanity-laced response after he was criticized for eating a golden-coated steak, club sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said on Sunday.

"He used words we cannot accept as Bayern Munich and which Franck as a role model and Bayern player must never use," Salihamidzic said at the club's training camp in Doha, Qatar. The Bayern sporting director did not reveal how much the fine was.

"I had a long chat with Franck yesterday and told him he has received a hefty fine. He has accepted the punishment." 

Ribery, 35, posted three messages on his social media accounts in response to criticism he received for having a golden steak at a restaurant owned by Turkish restaurateur Salt Bae. Ribery had posted a video of Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gokce, cutting the steak, which the French footballer salted in Gokce's signature fashion.

The steak, which is coated in 24-carat gold and is one of Salt Bae's signature dishes, cost around €1,200 ($1,367), according to German tabloid Bild.

Profane response

In the posts, the French forward attacked the "envious" and "haters" who he said was "surely born because of a broken condom."

"F--- your mothers, your grandmothers and your whole family tree," he wrote, having taken care to censor the French word "n*quez."

"I owe you nothing, my success is above all thanks to God. To me, to my relatives and to those who believed in me, for the others, you were only pebbles in my socks."

Ribery addressed one of the posts to Audrey Pulvar, a celebrity in France and president of the Nicolas Hulot foundation, who said on Twitter he should support a cause "if you do not know what to do with your money."

"When I donate (because I was taught to give if I earn a lot...), why doesn't the major national media broadcast that? No, you prefer to talk about the holidays that I go on with my family, you scrutinize my actions, what I eat, etc!" Ribery wrote.

The Bayern veteran, whose contract with the club expires at the end of the season, had an altercation with a French television worker at the end of last year for which he later apologized.

dv/rc (AFP, dpa)

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