Freiburg appeals loss to Bayern over substitution error

Updated Apr. 4, 2022 1:42 p.m. ET

Associated Press

FREIBURG, Germany (AP) — Bundesliga club Freiburg has appealed the result of its 4-1 loss to Bayern Munich after the Bavarian powerhouse briefly had an extra player on the field, but insisted it feels “extremely uncomfortable” about doing so.

Bayern briefly had 12 players on the field toward the end of the match when Marcel Sabitzer came on and Kingsley Coman didn't realize he was supposed to come off. The mixup apparently happened because a Bayern staff member gave the fourth official Coman’s old number to hold up during a double substitutioninstead of his current one.

Freiburg defender Nico Schlotterbeck informed referee Christian Dingert that the visitors had a player too many, leading to brief hold-up in play before Coman was taken off. Bayern was already 3-1 up at the time, with Coman having scored the third goal, and Sabitzer then netted the fourth in the sixth minute of injury time.

Freiburg said the mix-up forced it into a “dilemma through no fault of our own. SC Freiburg had no part or influence on the events around the substitution process. Nevertheless, the legal and procedural rules of the German soccer federation formally force us to play an active role in order to have the processes legally checked.”

The club added that “we have no interest whatsoever in this active role, which has been given to us against our will in terms of procedure, and we feel extremely uncomfortable in it.”

The club said it nevertheless decided to appeal the result after intensive discussions and legal consultations to give a sports court the chance to evaluate the situation. It said it was important to set a legal precedent for possible future cases for other clubs.

Earlier this season, Wolfsburg was

Bayern leads the Bundesliga by nine points with six rounds remaining.

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