Rodriguez hit with five-match ban after horror foul

Berlin (AFP) – Mainz midfielder Jose Rodriguez was on Tuesday hit with a five-match ban and fined 10,000 euros ($11,171) for his horror tackle which left his opponent with a gash to the bone.

Rodriguez was sent off, just eight minutes into his Mainz debut having come off the bench, after his tackle on Augsburg’s Dominik Kohr, who needed surgery after receiving a 14cm-long gash which exposed the bone, damaging muscles and tendons.

The sports court of the German Football Federation (DFB) took a dim view of the foul in the dying stages of Sunday’s Bundesliga match, which Mainz won 3-1, and earned Rodriguez a straight red card.

He personally apologised to Kohr, who will be sidelined for the foreseeable future and Mainz had already said they would fine him.

Mainz coach Martin Schmidt had said the foul was ‘not the face of Mainz 05’ while Augsburg manager Stefan Reuter branded it ‘senseless’.

Rodriguez, a product of the Real Madrid academy who signed from Galatasaray before the start of the season, will next be available on October 29 for Mainz’s German league match against Ingolstadt.