The players of FSV Mainz 05 have rebelled against the management. The club management suspended Adam Szalai on Monday for ‘technical reasons’, but that motive does not seem to be based on the truth. The routine nevertheless reported to the training complex on Wednesday and was subsequently told that he was not allowed to participate. The entire selection then decided to abandon the 4 p.m. training session.

Szalai, 32, already played for FSV Mainz between 2010 and 2013 and returned to the club a year ago. The Hungarian played 27 games in the Bundesliga last season, fluctuating between the bench and the base. On September 11, he participated for half an hour in the cup match against Havelse (1-5) and he took one of the five hits. Director Rouven Schröder announced on Monday that Szalai no longer fit into the future plans because it was “unlikely” that he would get much playing time.

Trainer Achim Beierlorzer also hid behind technical reasons at a press conference, but BILD ensures that a dispute over salary underlies the situation. At the height of the corona crisis, the selection, which includes Jean-Paul Boëtius and Jeremiah St. Juste, reportedly agreed to postpone payment of salaries. Szalai would have been the one who would have emphatically pointed out to the board that it was time to pay out these amounts and that the club management would have gone down the wrong way.

If the reporting of BILD right, Szalai is the second Bundesliga player to be suspended due to a salary-based corona dispute. Earlier Sebastian Polter, now playing for Fortuna Sittard, was told at 1. FC Union Berlin that he was no longer welcome in the last six matches of last season. Spokeswoman Silke Bannick acknowledges that there were ’emotional conversations’ within Mainz’s selection for Szalai on Wednesday and that the training has therefore been canceled. The club has scheduled a press conference for Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m.