Soccer star hit with R7.6m traffic fine!

Berlin - German football international Marco Reus, 25, has been slapped with a record €540 000 (R7.63 million) fine for driving without a licence, German media reported on Thursday.

Reus said: "Today I know it: I was much too naïve in this situation, it was a stupidity I have learned from. I've learned my lesson and it will never happen again."

According to Bild, the fine is a record in Germany for such an offence.

The Borussia Dortmund player, who is currently out with an ankle injury, was stopped by police on March 18 behind the wheel of a luxury car as he returned from training.

He failed to present his licence to police, who later discovered that he did not even possess one, and he had been stopped five times previously between September 2011 and March 2014 - each time picking up a fine without anyone checking if he had a licence.

The fine was calculated in proportion to his revenue, which the court estimated at €180 000 (R2.5 million) a month.