PRAGUE — Czech Republic midfielder Jakub Jankto, who recently came out as gay, is taking time off from soccer following a traffic incident.
Jankto’s Sparta Prague club said he was not with the team anymore and was given time to deal with his “personal situation.” Sparta declined to give more details and asked the public and media to respect Jankto’s privacy.
Jankto said in a statement that his health didn’t make it possible to continue helping Sparta in title and cup races and thanked the club and the fans for their support.
Police said he was checked by officers after they were notified by another driver on Tuesday. An alcohol test was negative but Jankto refused to be tested for other drugs.
According to media reports, he also didn’t have a driver’s licence, which was taken from him previously by police. Failure to have a licence was punishable by a prison term.
Jankto’s future was not clear.
He was playing for Sparta Prague this season on loan from Spanish club Getafe. He has previously played for Italian clubs Sampdoria and Udinese. He scored only once for Sparta and was mostly used as a substitute. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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