Effenberg walks out on Wolfsburg

VfL Wolfsburg have released midfield player Stefan Effenberg from his contract at the player's request.

Dispute with coach
The former German international, who joined Wolfsburg in the summer after four years with FC Bayern München, where he won the UEFA European Champions League in 2001, asked to be released from the remainder of his one-year deal after a dispute with coach Jürgen Röber.

Weighty matters
Effenberg, who has played 19 games for Wolfsburg, reacted angrily when Röber asked him to lose weight, asking for his contract to be severed with immediate effect after training yesterday. The 34-year-old, who weighs 90 kilos, said: "That's exactly what I weighed when I won the Champions League with Bayern. I am old enough to know what I have to do to be fully fit."

No stranger to controversy
Röber, who replaced the sacked Wolfgang Wolf last month, is not the first authority figure Effenberg has clashed with. Although he has played more than 350 games in the Bundesliga, his international career ended abruptly at the 1994 FIFA World Cup after he gave fans a single finger gesture when he was substituted against the Korean Republic and was duly sent home by coach Berti Vogts.