Bayern Munich are considering legal action against the Canadian soccer federation after Alphonso Davies sustained a serious knee injury in the Concacaf Nations League third-place playoff on Sunday.
“We’re demanding a full investigation into the events from Canada Soccer and expressly reserve the right to take legal action,” the Bayern chief executive, Jan-Christian Dreesen, told the German newspaper Bild on Friday.
Davies tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and sustained other damage to his right knee during Canada’s 2-1 win over the United States. The full-back returned to Munich where the full extent of the injury was determined and “will be out for several months”, according to his club.
Bayern Munich are alleging that Canadian officials did not provide appropriate care for the player by starting him in “a match of no sporting significance”. Both teams had lost in the tournament semi-finals, Canada beaten by eventual winners Mexico and the US losing to Panama.
“Sending a clearly injured player with a damaged knee on a 12-hour flight without a thorough medical assessment is, in our view, grossly negligent and a clear breach of medical duty of care,” Dreesen said. “The participation of Davies, who already had muscular problems before the game, in a match of no sporting significance is incomprehensible from our point of view.”
The Bayern sporting director, Christoph Freund, agreed, saying the treatment of Davies after his injury was “incorrect”. Davies went off after 12 minutes of the game in Los Angeles, replaced by Niko Sigur, and will now miss the rest of the season with an ACL tear. Canada won the match 2-1, with Jonathan David scoring the winner.
“Phonzy complained of fatigue. He’s the team captain, a young lad who wants to help his country. Then there’s this injury,” Freund said. “I think it’s negligent, unprofessional. It is bitter for us and the way it happened is just not correct. We are the employers, we pay the players, so we will be looking into what happened.”
Bayern are facing a defensive injury crisis as they bid to secure the Bundesliga title and reach the Champions League final at their home stadium, the Allianz Arena. They host St Pauli tomorrow in the league, with the first leg of their European quarter-final against Inter at home on Tuesday 8 April.
The French centre-back Dayot Upamecano has returned from international duty with a knee injury, joining Davies and South Korea’s Kim Min-jae on the sidelines for Vincent Kompany’s team.