UEFA President, Michel Platini, threatened to punish Franck Ribéry if he refuses to play for the French National team. In an interview with the German Newspaper, Bild, Platini stated that according to the FIFA Statutes Ribéry must answer Didier Dechamps call if chosen to play. “If he does not come, he is suspended for three games with Bayern Munich,” said Platini to Marc Schmidt at Bild.
Ribéry has already missed games at the beginning of the Bundesliga season with Bayern Munich due to an ankle injury, and surely does not want to miss more games due to a FIFA suspension. The FIFA statues Platini spoke about force a player to answer the national team call-ups and despite his retirement from international soccer announced in August, Dechamps could choose to ignore Ribéry’s retirement and ask him to help for the Euro 2016 qualifiers anyway.
Ribéry announced his retirement from international play after the 2014 World Cup that he missed due to a back injury suffered just before the final rosters were due, however Ribéry was originally included in the French roster. Ribéry stated personal reasons for his retirement and also talked about giving the younger players a chance to shine for the French national team.
After his first call-up for the Les Blues in 2006 as a substitute against against Mexico, eventually going on to travel with the team to the 2006 World Cup in Italy. He has scored 16 goals in 81 appearances and would be a big asset to the French national team ahead of the 2016 Euros if he is healthy, however should Dechamps ask Ribéry to play the winger he may decide to accept the FIFA ban and would likely have the support of Bayern as to prevent him from receiving another injury during international play.
