Bosnia and Herzegovina full-back Sead Kolasinac has defended international teammate Emir Spahic after his Bayer Leverkusen contract was terminated following an attack on a club steward.
Late last week, video footage surfaced of Spahic, 34, attacking the steward after he refused to allow the defender's entourage access to the dressing-room area of the Bay-Arena after the DFB-Pokal defeat to Bayern Munich.
Leverkusen announced that they were conducting a review of the incident on Friday and then released the player from his contract on Sunday.
That decision brought widespread praise from the German media as Leverkusen, currently fourth in the Bundesliga and targeting automatic qualification to next season's Champions League, had willingly reduced their defensive options despite their on-field ambitions.
However, Kolasinac, who plays for Leverkusen's Bundesliga rivals Schalke, defended Spahic on Facebook.
JEDAN JE SPAHA!Ne možemo promijeniti to što se desilo, ali možemo biti uz njega u ovim teškim danima. Naš Emir je...
Posted by Sead Kolašinac on Sunday, 12 April 2015
Kolasinac had initially written a post apparently trying to justify Spahic's actions, but he later updated it to simply offer his compatriot support.
In the updated post, he wrote: "We cannot change what has happened, but we can be with him in these hard days. Our Emir is always, first of all, a good man and my national team colleague, who I know well and respect.
"I'd like to use this opportunity to give my full support to my friend, brother and great humanist who was always there for B&H, his family, friends and [would have] 'died' for them. Above all this is the man who has on numerous occasions helped and supported others [in need]. Now it's our turn: Give support to our Spaho!!!"