Borussia Dortmund's Germany winger Marco Reus was fined more than half a million euros on Wednesday for driving without a licence for years and said he had made a "stupid mistake".
The 25-year-old, who has been involved in advertising for the club's car sponsor and a petrol company, received speeding tickets at least five times since 2011 before the authorities realised he had been driving without a licence ever since.
"I decided back then to take that road but the reasons I did it are something I cannot really understand today," Reus, a transfer target for several top European clubs, was quoted as saying by the Bild newspaper.
"Today I know that I was too naive and that it was stupid. I have learned my lesson and this will not happen again," he said.
Dortmund's prosecutor's office said the 540,000 euros ($664,848) fine related to incidents from 2011 until this March.
Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said Reus had admitted making a big mistake when he took a "wrong turn in his life.
"I was also surprised. I talked to him today and he has fully accepted it was a mistake," he told reporters.
"He took a wrong turn at some point. But everything is back to normal now. He is a great guy who made a mistake."
Klopp said it may not have been easy for Reus to go back and take a test while already being so well known as a Germany international. "He probably saw no way out of this," he added.
The club said they had discussed the matter with the player who said he had made a "stupid" mistake.
"He has promised such a thing will not happen again," club spokesman Sascha Fligge told reporters. "We see no reason to doubt his words because we hold Marco both as a player and as a person in high regard."
Reus, who missed Germany's World Cup triumph in July after picking up an injury in the final warm-up game, is currently out of action with another ankle injury.
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