Wolfsburg have postponed plans for a new multi-million euro youth training centre after the scandal over rigged diesel emissions tests that has hit owners Volkswagen, Wolfsburg’s chief executive Klaus Allofs said.

“I think it is understandable to postpone it for now,” Allofs told journalists in response to media reports the plans for the new training centre, reported to cost up to €40 million, had been halted.

“We were still a long way away from being able to say that the project is implemented but obviously now is not the moment to invest. Reason has to prevail,” said Allofs, whose club is also competing in the Champions League this season.

The 2009 Bundesliga champions are wholly-owned by Europe’s largest carmaker, which is battling the biggest business crisis in its 78-year history after admitting last month it installed software in diesel vehicles to deceive US regulators about the true level of their toxic emissions.

The scandal has wiped about a quarter off Volkswagen’s market value, forced out its chief executive and rocked the global car industry and the German economy.

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