Bayern Germany boycott: What consequences would club face?
Following Uli Hoeness' threat not to release Bayern players called up by Germany, we take a look at what sanctions the club would leave itself open to.
Uli Hoeness has raised eyebrows across the football world by claiming that Bayern Munich will refuse to release players to the German national team if their goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, is replaced as Die Mannschaft's number one by Barcelona's Marc-André ter Stegen.
"We will never accept a change in goal," Bayern president Hoeness told Sport Bild, amid a bitter recent war of words in Germany over which of the two custodians should be Joachim Löw's starting keeper. "Before that happens, we will not send any players to represent the national side."
But what consequences would Bayern leave themselves open to if they actually followed through on the threat?
Fines for refusing to release players without justification
According to FIFA rules, refusal by a club to release a footballer who is eligible and available for selection by a national team should incur the following fines: 6,000 Swiss francs (around 5,500 euros) per player for every competitive fixture missed, and 4,000 Swiss francs (3,700 euros) for each friendly.
Clearly, such sums would not pose much of strain on Bayern's finances. However this is not the only punishment that the German champions could face...
Potential five-day ban to go with fine
In theory, Bayern would also expose themselves to the far more damaging sanction of being barred from fielding the individual, or individuals, in question in any game held within five days of the end of the international break - with failure to comply resulting in the club's opponents being declared match-winners by default.
Given the large number of Bayern players normally involved in Germany's squads - for example, head coach Löw included five in his list for September's Euro 2020 qualifiers - the Bavarians would therefore be at risk of temporarily losing the services of a significant proportion of their first-team group.