MUNICH (AP) - Bayern Munich has criticized the French soccer federation for requiring injured defender Lucas Hernández to come to Paris for a doctor’s exam during the international break.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Monday that he is “irritated by the behavior of the French federation” after Hernandez was called up to the France squad despite the player being sidelined with a knee problem.
Hernandez missed Bayern’s Champions League game against Tottenham last week and the Bundesliga match against Hoffenheim on Saturday after taking a knock to his right knee in the side’s 3-2 win at Paderborn on Sept. 28. He had an operation on the same knee in March to repair ligament damage, an injury he suffered while still an Atlético Madrid player.
Bayern said it informed the French federation on Saturday that Hernández could not play in the team’s upcoming European qualifiers against Iceland and Turkey, but that it received a reply Monday that the player was expected to return to France nonetheless, in line with FIFA statutes.
“Of the four French players demanded, of course we’re making three healthy professionals in Kingsley Coman, Corentin Tolisso and Benjamin Pavard available as per FIFA statutes, but we expected more understanding over Lucas Hernández due to the risk involved - like the German soccer federation is showing with the injury-induced dropouts of Toni Kroos, Jonas Hector and others,” Rummenigge said.
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