Bayern Munich medical staff have hit back at France over accusations they're to blame for Franck Ribery's absence from the World Cup.
France team doctor Franck Le Gall had said on Thursday that Ribery played as a substitute in the German Cup final on May 17 with pain-killing injections despite having suffered from back trouble for several weeks.
Bayern's doctor Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt rejected French claims it was his treatment that ruled the winger out.
Ribery was dropped from the France squad days before the tournament started after failing to recover from a back injury that had troubled him towards the end of the season.
"He (Ribery) was evidently told not to be treated by Mueller-Wohlfahrt," said a statement issued through the lawyers of the German doctor, who is at the finals in Brazil for his country's national team.
"He (Mueller-Wohlfahrt) assumes that had he (Ribery) been treated there would have been the possibility for him to play at the World Cup."
