Following his penalty order for illegal possession of weapons, Karim Adeyemi must also expect sanctions from the DFB. However, Rudi Völler wants to “give the BVB offensive player a hug.”
In the Karim Adeyemi case, Rudi Völler has stood behind the national player, but at the same time announced consequences. After Monday evening’s 6-0 victory over Slovakia, which secured the German team’s ticket to the 2026 World Cup, the DFB’s sporting director expressed a mixture of criticism and support for Adeyemi.
“First of all, we wanted to stand behind the boy” and “still be critical” with him, Völler explained on ZDF. “But of course we don’t want to condemn him either. At that age, we also made many mistakes, though not like that, of course. You have to punish him now and then, but also give him a hug.” Völler left open what kind of sanction Adeyemi might face: “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, that will come later.”
Adeyemi had already received a penalty order for illegal possession of weapons at the end of October and had been sentenced to a total fine of €450,000 – which, however, only became public knowledge around two weeks later. A knuckle duster and a taser were reportedly found in his possession. “It’s naive and stupid to order something online when you don’t know 100% what’s in it,” explained Völler, who immediately confronted the 23-year-old Dortmund player together with national coach Julian Nagelsmann.
“He tried to explain it to some extent”
“The day after the game in Luxembourg, Lars Ricken called me and told us about it. Julian and I then grabbed Karim and wanted to hear his version. He tried to explain it to some extent,” reported the sporting director. “He was probably hoping it wouldn’t come out.” When asked whether the DFB had been caught off guard by the issue, he replied: “Yes.”
So far, Adeyemi has not done anything wrong in the national team. “Nothing has happened,” emphasized Völler, who also took issue with the “culture of outrage in Germany”: “Everyone is always quick to complain – without wanting to gloss over” Adeyemi’s misconduct.
Völler announced that the whole issue would now be “calmly dealt with” together with BVB. “Dortmund have him under control.” Adeyemi had missed the Luxembourg game due to a yellow card suspension and did not play against Slovakia.
