Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has hit out at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s sponsors Nike after the attacker’s masked goal celebration in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Schalke.
After scoring his 24th goal of the Bundesliga season, Aubameyang, 27, put on a mask that was later identified as being part of a “The Masked Finisher” campaign by Nike.
It was the second time in less than a month that the Gabon forward had promoted the sponsor while playing for Dortmund, where sportswear company Puma are both a shareholder and the kit supplier.
“This behaviour is unworthy of a big corporation,” Watzke told Bild.
“It can’t be that we have to force through the economic interest of Nike in this way. Our partner is Puma.”
In a statement, Puma said: “We are surprised that a competitor puts a player in such a situation.”
Bild added that Aubameyang — booked for his celebration by referee Felix Zwayer — is set to be fined €50,000 by Dortmund.
American sportswear company Nike supplied Dortmund’s kit for 15 years over two stints in the 1990s and 2000s.
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