Bradford City defender Zesh Rehman has been placed on the transfer list and stripped of the club captaincy because of an internal disciplinary matter.
Rehman, 27, recently questioned why he had been overlooked for first-team selection and will now be available for a free transfer in January.
Bradford manager Peter Taylor told BBC Radio Leeds: “The players know the rules and Zesh has broken them.”
The club captain’s role has been handed to midfielder Lee Bullock.
Pakistan skipper Rehman has featured in 12 games this season, but has been an unused sub for the last two matches.
In a live BBC Radio Leeds interview on 29 November, Rehman said: “I’m not going to lie, it’s left a bad taste in my mouth having to watch the last few games from the bench.
“I’ve led the team to good results and performances and then I’ve had four young loan defenders, with 10 league games between them, come in and play ahead of me.
“Now, no disrespect to them, but at times like this I think you need experience.
“I’m club captain, have played over 200 games in my career so far and I think my experience could help the team right now.
“It’s not just me that’s baffled as to why I’m not playing, but my team-mates as well and I’ve been stopped by a number of fans too.
“But, at the end of the day, the manager has to pick the team that he thinks can win and you have to respect that and get on with it.”
Rehman joined Bradford in January 2009, originally on loan from Queens Park Rangers.
He then agreed a permanent deal at Valley Parade in July.
Taylor added: “I just felt that listening to him on Monday night that that was unnecessary.
“Every time that I’ve had meetings with Zesh I think that I’ve been very honest.
“There’s times that I haven’t said things out in public so I was quite disappointed to be criticised as I was.
“I think as a club captain he’s let himself down, I think the timing of it is poor, and I think he wanted to let people know that I’m wrong for not picking him and I think he’s chosen the wrong way to do it.”