Uli Hoeness, the Bayern Munich president, has accused the Dutch national team's physiotherapist Dick van Toorn of needing glasses for failing to spot that Arjen Robben had a serious injury before the World Cup. And he has also blasted the French Football Federation (FFF) for a lack of decency in requesting Franck Ribery attend a hearing in Paris today.
Robben, the Holland winger, has been told by Bayern's club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt that he faces eight weeks on the sidelines after it was discovered on his return to pre-season training at the start of the month he had a serious muscle tear. The 26-year-old was injured in Holland's warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup, but Van Toorn was able to get him fit to play in South Africa despite fears he would miss the entire tournament. And the Dutchman has since rejected the German side's claim he was negligent in his treatment of Robben.
But Hoeness is not prepared to let the matter rest, telling the Bild newspaper in an interview: "We have in Muller-Wohlfahrt the best sports doctor in the world with a success rate of 100 per cent. If Mr Van Toorn can not recognise the injury then he should buy himself some glasses. "It was negligent of the Dutch to let Robben play for even a single second at the World Cup. He played injured at the tournament and we are now paying the cost. That can surely not be right. We are demanding compensation."
Bayern are also unhappy over the treatment of one of their other foreign players, Ribery, who was one of five France players summoned to Paris to appear before the FFF's disciplinary committee to discuss the behaviour of the national team during the tournament, when in-fighting led to them being eliminated in the group stage. Bayern have already made it clear they will not be releasing their player for the hearing today.
Hoeness added: "We are not sending the French our players, who are in the midst of preparing for the season, on demand. "They have absolutely no decency. If they want something, then they should surely come here. The club has behaved in an exemplary fashion in this matter. I can only welcome the measure not to allow Franck to travel to Paris. I would also not have let him go." Meanwhile in France, Didier Deschamps, the Marseille coach, is not worried after his side suffered a second successive defeat in the defence of their Ligue 1 title. Marseille lost 3-2 at Valenciennes on Saturday night to follow their stunning upset at the hands of Caen in the opening match.
There has been turmoil at the club with Mamadou Niang leaving for Fenerbahce in Turkey and Hatem Ben Arfa declaring his Marseille career over as he tries to push through a move away to English Premier League side Newcastle United. "I'm not worried," Deschamps told L'Equipe. "The urgency is there." Deschamps sounded resigned to losing Ben Arfa, despite the club's insistence last week that the winger is not for sale.
"I never said I did not want him," Deschamps said. "But it is very difficult given his radical position and his attitude. "I think I did a lot of him. He has talent, but still some weaknesses. I have spent a lot of time talking to Hatem, and told him many things. Some of it he has remembered, some of it not. Last Thursday he refused to speak to me, so it may be for the best." However, Deschamps admitted it was certainly not for the best to lose Niang, the club's captain and top scorer last season.
"To let him go with just a few days to find a replacement, it is a disaster," he said. * Agencies
