Kiel's Pekeler apologizes to MT Melsungen
THW Kiel's long-serving national handball player Hendrik Pekeler has apologized for his verbal slip-up with Bundesliga rivals MT Melsungen. "Dragging another club into my disappointment after the game was not okay at all. That's not my idea of respectful, fair treatment among athletes and shouldn't really happen to me as an experienced player," said the 32-year-old pivot in a club statement from Kiel on Friday.
After the 18:27 defeat in the Champions League against Aalborg HB, Pekeler gave free rein to his disappointment on Thursday and also verbally attacked the club from Hesse. "Do we want to be the new shitty Melsungen, who play a shitty game after a good one?" asked the THW center back after the defeat.
Pekeler later regretted his inappropriate comparison. "I therefore contacted (Melsungen's sporting director) Michael Allendorf directly and formally asked him to apologize," he reported. THW managing director Viktor Szilagyi was also in contact with MT's sporting director. "We clarified it internally with Peke. Then Michael Allendorf and I discussed it briefly. The issue is out of the world and nothing will remain in the relationship between the two clubs."
The German champions have weakened surprisingly often this season. With five defeats in twelve games in the league, Kiel are lagging far behind their expectations and have now suffered a setback in the top flight. "It can't go on like this, it's no fun," said Pekeler, who also criticized his teammates immediately after the defeat against Aalborg: "We don't have any men up front. We have children there".
Source: www.dpa.com
