AMSTERDAM — Schalke 04 have reluctantly accepted the eight-match suspension handed to Jermaine Jones for violent play in their DFB-Pokal loss at Borussia Mönchengladbach just before Christmas.
The US midfielder drew the sanction after review of an off-the-ball stomp on the foot of Foals winger Marco Reus that went unpunished during a game on Dec. 21.
While Schalke management didn't quite agree with the severity of the ban, they will not file an appeal.
"I don't want to play it down as it was violent conduct and it deserved a certain level of punishment, but there have been similar cases of violent conduct that have drawn a suspension in the competition they happened in," Miners technical director Horst Heldt said in a statement. "On top of that, Jermaine has also apologized to Reus in person, and has subsequently shown remorse and contrition."
Reus, who was wearing a special shoe for an injured foot at the time, did finish the contest. Referee Wolfgang Stark didn't see the incident, but later sent Jones off with a second yellow card near time. In review, the federation hit the midfielder with an "extreme sporting misconduct" charge.
Jones will miss six Bundesliga matches, as well as Schalke's Europa League round of 32 clash with Czech champions Viktoria Plzen. He will again be available for selection when they visit Freiburg on March 4.
