Undignifying — Ter Stegen's union leader fires at Barcelona for treatment of goalkeeper

The president of the German Footballers' Union, Carsten Ramelow, has expressed disappointment over Barcelona's treatment of their captain, Marc-André ter Stegen, deeming it undignifying. 

Ramelow now heads the German football union after a career playing for clubs like Leverkusen. He expressed utter contempt for how Barcelona pressured Ter Stegen, stating that it's a worrying trend in modern football. 

“What is happening at Barça is undignified,” he said, per Dario AS. “What image is Barcelona giving to the outside world now? I think it’s very bad. To want to end like this, I’m speechless.

“Unfortunately, this seems to be the current trend in football. It can’t be that a player is only interesting as long as he wears the club shirt and performs at the highest level.”

As Pulse Sports reported, FC Barcelona temporarily stripped Marc-André ter Stegen of his position as first-team captain due to disciplinary issues.

The decision stemmed from a significant dispute with Ter Stegen, who initially refused to sign a medical report required by La Liga after his recent surgery. 

The document was crucial for Barcelona to leverage his absence, freeing up salary space to register new signings like Joan Garcia, pending approval from the league’s medical commission.

After Barcelona's drastic step, Ter Stegen released a statement explaining that what happened was a misunderstanding. He had a meeting with Joan Laporta, in which he smoothed things over, and he signed the required documents.