Diego defies Werder orders, heads for Olympics

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - Werder Bremen playmaker Diego defied orders from his Bundesliga club and left Germany on Tuesday to join Brazil's Olympic team, following the footsteps of Schalke 04 defender Rafinha who went absent without leave on Monday.

Werder Bremen sporting director Klaus Allofs announced the club would take action after repeatedly warning him he would not be released even though FIFA said clubs are obligated to release under-23 players for the August 7-23 Olympics soccer tournament.

"We were unable to reach an agreement in a 90-minute meeting this morning," Werder said on its website (http://www.werder.de).

"Diego feels obliged to join Brazil's team in Paris. He fears not showing up would jeopardize his future career for Brazil."

Allofs, who believes clubs are not obligated to release players for the Olympics, said Werder was seeking intervention from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against Diego, 23.

"It's best for everyone involved to clear this up once and for all," Allofs was quoted telling sport news agency SID. "This kind of back-and-forth should never happen again."

Earlier, Schalke 04 said they were considering legal action against Rafinha for breach of contract after he left a training camp without permission to join Brazil's Olympic team.

Schalke sporting director Andreas Mueller was quoted saying the club would also ask CAS to intervene if Rafinha does not return to the Bundesliga side's training camp.