‘Jose Mourinho should be sent to prison for bullying Bastian Schweinsteiger’

JOSE MOURINHO has been accused of bullying Manchester United outcast Bastian Schweinsteiger.

By Jeremy Cross, Chief Sports Writer

German’s World Cup winning captain has been banished from the first team and ordered to train with the club’s youngsters.

Mourinho has decided the 32-year-old midfielder is not be part of his plans and wants him out.

Schweinsteiger joined United in a £12m deal from Bayern Munich last summer but endured a miserable first season at Old Trafford.

United are willing to sell him just to get the £200,000-a-week veteran off the wage bill.

But Mourinho has come under fire for his treatment of Schweinsteiger from Dejan Stefanovic, a leading member of the worldwide players’ union Fifpro.

Stefanovic claims Schweinsteiger has grounds for taking legal action against the United boss.

He said: “If this would have happened in Slovenia, we would have indicted Jose Mourinho and asked for the highest penalty possible because he’s setting a bad example.

“This is clearly meant to discourage Bastian. Unfortunately, a lot of our fans accept that. Because he’s idolised and he’s getting a lot of money, he can be treated differently.

“They do not perceive our rights as equal to their rights just because we earn a lot of money - and that’s not right.

“He should turn to the PFA and he should file a complaint and I would also seek a penalty for Mourinho.”

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SHODDY TREATMENT: Bastian Schweinsteiger has been sent to the ressies

Stefanovic has called on Mourinho to call Schweinsteiger back into the first team fold and added: “He should reinstate him back into training with the first team.

"Of course this doesn’t mean that he has a right to play, but he has to undergo the same treatment as most of the other players.

“I would take it to the ordinary court. In our case, the penal code is quite clear. If there is bullying and harassment, there’s a prison sanction, a maximum of three years in prison.

“Usually it’s enough for us to call the club and just threaten, but nobody seems to have done it yet in England.”

Bayern bosses have also waded into the row to with president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge saying: “I could hardly believe it. One or two players are going to think long and hard about whether they want to go to such a club. Nothing like that has ever happened at Bayern Munich.”

Former boss Ottmar Hitzfeld added: “It’s a lack of respect for a worthy player and it’s a method which is strange to me.

“Schweinsteiger is a key player, a world champion, a personality, while at the same time he has an exceptional attitude.”