Schalke and United States midfielder Jermaine Jones faces sanctions for seemingly deliberately stepping on the injured foot of an opponent during a cup match as the ruling body DFB is investigating the incident.

The DFB said on Thursday it has asked Jones for a statement on the incident in which he is suspectesd to have acted “grossly unsportsmanlike.”   

Television evidence showed Jones walking around Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Marco Reus during a break of play and stepping hard on the left foot in which Reus had fractured a toe recently.

The DFB confirmed that the incident went unnoticed by the referee, which allowed it to investigate based on television evidence.

“I don’t know why he is doing this, he should concentrate on football,” the Germany midfielder Reus told ARD television after the third-round game Moenchengladbach won 3-1.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung spoke of a “devious” incident, Sport Bild named it “the nastiest kick of the year” and Moenchengladbach coach Lucien Favre said that “I am not surprised, typically Jones.”   

Former Germany midfielder Mehmet Scholl raised eyebrows by shrugging off the incident on ARD as part of the game, while DFB sports director Matthias Sammer told Sky “you don’t do these things  to a colleague.”   

Schalke sports director Horst Heldt told the derwesten.de website that Jones should “definitely avoid such incidents” and that Schalke will look into possible sanctions against their player.

The hot-blooded Jones, who was sent off for a second bookable offence late in the game, did not comment afterwards. He will definitely miss one cup game next season for the dismissal, but the  DFB could impose a longer ban over the kick against Reus.