FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Union Berlin coach Nenad Bjelica was banned for three games on Thursday, a day after he was red-carded for striking Bayern Munich forward Leroy Sane during a game.
Bjelica shoved Sane twice in the face after Sane demanded the ball from him to take a throw-in during Bayern's 1-0 win over Union.
Bjelica was banned for three Bundesliga games against Darmstadt, Leipzig and Mainz and fined 25,000 euros ($27,000), the German soccer federation said in a statement. The case was treated as "unsporting behavior" and Bjelica accepted the sanction, the federation added.
After Wednesday's game, Bjelica said his behavior was "not to be tolerated" but said he would not apologize to Sane, claiming the Bayern player provoked and pushed him. Bjelica said he was "somewhat excited" at the time of the incident because his team had not been awarded a penalty shortly before.
Bjelica has been in charge for seven games since he was appointed in November.
Union is 15th in the 18-team Bundesliga.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer
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