Stuttgart suspend Serb Ljuboja

Serbia forward Danijel Ljuboja has been suspended by his Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart until the end of the season on disciplinary grounds, it was announced on Thursday.

“He has not behaved in the way you expect from a professional player,” said Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel.

“This is his second infringement in a short period of time.”

The Stuttgart coach refused to give any details over what the 30-year-old, who has 19 caps for Serbia and is out of contract in June, had done.

“Danijel had the chance to leave the club during the winter break, but he did not take it, there was always a problem,” said Stuttgart’s director of sport Horst Heldt.

Since his arrival in Stuttgart in 2005, Ljuboja has been disciplined on several occasions and after his first season he went into conflict with Stuttgart bosses by asking for his wages to be doubled.

Stuttgart loaned him to Hamburg in 2007, where he fell foul of then-coach Huub Stevens and on his return to Stuttgart, he refused a transfer to Italian side Sienne.

He was loaned again to Wolfsburg in January 2008, but they declined to sign him permanently and returned him to Stuttgart at the end of last season.

Since the start of this season, Ljuboja has made just three Bundesliga appearances.