Germany international Nico Schulz has been accused of kicking his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach weeks before she was due to give birth.
His ex-partner has filed a complaint against the Borussia Dortmund defender for multiple allegations of domestic abuse, claiming that the kicking incident occurred “two weeks before she was due to give birth”.
An investigation has now been opened, reports Bild, with police searching the home of Schulz, who has denied all allegations made against him.
Prosecutors have claimed that he tried to terminate the pregnancy when he “kicked his girlfriend in the stomach with his shoed foot”.
Meanwhile Schulz was absent from Dortmund’s season opener on Saturday.
Bild’s report also includes messages seen by the German outlet, including one sent by Schulz’s former girlfriend, which reads: “You hit me when I was naked in my own apartment.”
Schulz did not feature for Dortmund at all during pre-season and was left out of Edin Terzic’s squad for their Bundesliga match against Bayer Leverkusen this weekend.
The club have also released a statement in response to the media’s reporting of the allegations, confirming: “Borussia Dortmund took Saturday’s media reports regarding criminal allegations – concerning Nico Schulz’s private life – as an opportunity to immediately seek dialogue with the player and his advisors.
“The player denies the criminal charges against him. Nico Schulz has informed us that he will defend himself against these allegations with the help of a lawyer and that he will also claim the presumption of innocence.
“The allegations made, of which Borussia Dortmund was not aware until the media reports, weigh extremely heavily and are shocking for BVB. Borussia Dortmund takes it very seriously and distances itself from any form of violence.
“However, Borussia Dortmund is not a party to the proceedings and has no access to the investigation files or the criminal complaint that has apparently been filed.
“Since this is a pending procedure in the early stages of the investigation and the factual and legal situation for Borussia Dortmund is extremely unclear as of today, we are currently unable to make any reliable and legally certain decisions regarding labour law and disciplinary measures.
“However, we reserve the right to do so at any time for a point in time when we objectively know more. Borussia Dortmund will not be making any further comments at this time.”
Schulz joined Dortmund from Hoffenheim back in 2019 and has gone on to make 61 appearances for the club, scoring once and providing three assists from left-back.
He has also been capped 12 times by Germany, scoring twice, but has not played for his country since November 2020.
