Borussia investor says players complacent - newspaper

Borussia Dortmund's main investor has accused players of complacency and demanded further pay cuts from management to help overhaul the struggling club, the Bild newspaper reported yesterday.

Germany's only listed soccer club is struggling with record debt and threatened with demotion to the second league, languishing in 14th place in the 18-team Bundesliga since the end of the first half of the season.

Private fund manager Florian Homm, who holds more than 25 per cent of the club, told Bild he expected players to return "top fit" to the second half of the season and "fight".

"Such a knocked-over team as seen recently is not tolerable any longer for any fan," he said, adding that the poor field performance was the reason for the stock's sharp fall.

Management has announced an overhaul of the loss-making club with cutbacks in players and staff in a bid to return to profitability in two years.

Homm also demanded sporting director Michael Zorc should make a personal contribution and accept some form of pay cut like other managers. "I cannot continue to eat caviar if ships are sinking on my left and right," he said.

Borussia's team manager Stefan Reuter quit the club this week, saying "things don't make much sense any longer after how it has gone recently".

Managing directors Gerd Niebaum and Michael Meier have both temporarily waived their salaries but resisted demands to resign, saying they will stay to handle Borussia's overhaul.