Rolfes: Victor Boniface's Mainz Tunnel Walk-Off Was 'A One-Time Thing'

Bayer Leverkusen have drawn a line under Victor Boniface's tunnel walk-off at Mainz, with sporting managing director Simon Rolfes revealing the club held talks with the Nigerian striker and describing the flashpoint as "a one-time thing."

Boniface marched straight down the tunnel after being left as an unused substitute in Leverkusen's 4-3 Bundesliga win at the MEWA Arena, a reaction that drew immediate attention. Rolfes confirmed that head coach Carles Martínez addressed the matter directly with the player the following morning.

Martínez moved to 'put the matter to bed'

"Carles spoke with him directly on Sunday morning to put the matter to bed. With Boni, it's fundamentally getting better every week," Rolfes told Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.

Rolfes framed the outburst as a by-product of the striker's improved standing within the squad, rather than a sign of deeper unrest, pointing to the forward's development since the team regrouped in pre-season.

"If we look back to the point where we started in early July, that's a very positive development. He still needs to take some steps, though," Rolfes said.

"He might have been disappointed because by now he's built up a lot more hope than he had six weeks ago. That's a good sign for now. Still, he knows that wasn't smart. He's a good part of the team in day-to-day life, and that won't happen again next time."

'That can't happen'

The Leverkusen director of sport was unequivocal that the behaviour was unacceptable, while stressing that the matter is now closed.

"That can't happen. But he knows that too. That was a one-time thing, and now it's done with," Rolfes said.

Rolfes added that it is vital the striker keeps his composure to prevent any repeat, acknowledging the difficulty of managing limited playing time from a player's perspective.

"Of course it's important that we're a team and everyone supports that in every moment, even if their own situation is frustrating them right now. I was a player myself. It would be bad if a player weren't frustrated when he's not playing. You still have to handle it reasonably, though," he added.

Background

Leverkusen first moved to play down the incident in the immediate aftermath of the Mainz match on 11 October, with Martínez promising to speak to Boniface and Rolfes insisting at the time that "it won't happen next time." Boniface's walk-off came after he remained an unused substitute in the 4-3 Bundesliga thriller.

The club has since been dealing with separate squad disruption, with Rolfes confirming on 14 October that attacker Eliesse Ben Seghir would miss the Lech Poznan fixture and was also likely to sit out the Bundesliga meeting with SC Freiburg after suffering a minor muscle injury.