Photo: Instagram/Kingsley Coman
This will sound like the silliest thing to fine a footballer for or any other athlete for that matter. Here it goes: a Bayern Munich football player faces a hefty fine for driving to practice in a Mercedes-Benz.
German publication Bild reports that Frenchman Kingsley Coman, a winger whose previous contracts include Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, has come under fire for showing up for training in his personal, white Mercedes G-Wagon. When he arrived for training at the Saebener Strasse, he wasn’t allowed on the premises because of the car he was driving.
So, instead of pulling into the underground parking, Coman had to find parking outside of the training grounds and then walk inside. One incriminatory photo was snapped on the occasion and published by the publication. The report notes that, for his car choice that day, Coman is liable to a €50,000 (approximately $60,000) fine.
The reason for the fine is that Coman should have been driving an Audi. Bayern Munich is sponsored by Audi, which also has an 8.33% share in the football club. The sponsorship is worth an estimated €50 million ($59.6 million) a year. More importantly, though, there’s a clause in every player's contract that says that they must use the Audis each has been given to drive to business appointments and official appearances. That includes showing up for practice.
Perhaps the funniest part is that this isn’t even the first time that Coman gets caught on the wrong footing with this.
In April 2020, he drove to practice in a McLaren 570S Spider: a most solid choice, no doubt, but one that forced him to issue a public apology to Audi and the club, along with a promise to make it up to Audi with an hourlong autograph session. Coman talked his way out of that incident by saying a broken mirror had prevented him from taking it out, but he’s yet to explain the most recent one.
So, instead of pulling into the underground parking, Coman had to find parking outside of the training grounds and then walk inside. One incriminatory photo was snapped on the occasion and published by the publication. The report notes that, for his car choice that day, Coman is liable to a €50,000 (approximately $60,000) fine.
The reason for the fine is that Coman should have been driving an Audi. Bayern Munich is sponsored by Audi, which also has an 8.33% share in the football club. The sponsorship is worth an estimated €50 million ($59.6 million) a year. More importantly, though, there’s a clause in every player's contract that says that they must use the Audis each has been given to drive to business appointments and official appearances. That includes showing up for practice.
Perhaps the funniest part is that this isn’t even the first time that Coman gets caught on the wrong footing with this.
In April 2020, he drove to practice in a McLaren 570S Spider: a most solid choice, no doubt, but one that forced him to issue a public apology to Audi and the club, along with a promise to make it up to Audi with an hourlong autograph session. Coman talked his way out of that incident by saying a broken mirror had prevented him from taking it out, but he’s yet to explain the most recent one.
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