RB LEIPZIG MIDFIELDER Naby Keita has received a six-figure fine believed to be in the region of €415,000 for submitting a counterfit driving licence from his native Guinea in an attempt to take out a German licence.
A Bild report claims Keita, who joins Liverpool next summer, twice attempted to obtain a new licence in Germany using Guinean documents described as forgeries, in both December 2016 and January this year.
The same report by Michael Klug and Stefan Krause suggests the Leipzig district court has ordered Keita to pay €415,000, and that the 22-year-old will make 50 daily payments of €8,300.
The fine is calculated based on an assumed rate of income, with the court of the belief that Keita earns €3m per year at Leipzig. In 2014, Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus was ordered to pay €540,000 having driven for years without a licence.
Court spokesman Stefan Blaschke confirmed a six-figure fine to ESPN FC, but was not at liberty to discuss the exact sum as Keita has appealed the decision, which is set to lead to a case next year.
Keita’s 50 daily payments would be made in lieu of prison time.
His current club said at the weekend they were aware of the situation, with press officer Florian Scholz adding in a statement that they “are not assuming this is a forgery matter.”
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