Football: Germany’s Boateng fined for breaking lockdown

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - German giants Bayern Munich fined defender Jerome Boateng after he broke a coronavirus lockdown.

"Boateng has transgressed the guidelines issued by the club by being too far away from his home," the club said.

"These guidelines govern the behavior of the FC Bayern players in the current situation in line with the Bavarian state government’s directives on restrictions on movement and the recommendations of the health authorities.”

The team said money from the undisclosed fine will be donated to hospitals in Munich.

Boateng, 31, told the German newspaper Bild, he knows it was a mistake not to inform the club about his trip, but at the moment he only had his son in mind.

“He was not in good health. When a son calls his father, of course, I will still go, no matter what time. For him I accept any punishment; after all, he is my son," he said.

Boateng won the UEFA Champions League title with Bayern Munich in 2013 and has scored eight goals to go along with 23 assists in 310 appearances.

He also helped Germany win the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The death toll from the virus in Germany surpassed 1,000 with more than 83,000 cases, according to statistics released Thursday by authorities.

After surfacing in Wuhan, China in December, the virus known as COVID-19 has spread to at least 180 countries and regions.

The global death toll has eclipsed 50,200 with almost 981, 200 cases worldwide, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. More than 204,600 have recovered.