Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has threatened to ban his players from joining the national team if Mark-Andre Ter Stegen prefers Manuel Neuer to goalkeeper, local sports magazine Bild reported Wednesday.
This comes after Ter Stegen, who defends the colors of Barcelona, and is one of the best goalkeepers in the world today, complained that he remained second behind Noir, who defends the colors of Bayern, in the guard of the Manchfoot.
In the weekly issue of Wednesday, "Sport Bild" published remarks to the 67-year-old Hoeness reported that they return to last Wednesday, after Bayern beat the Red Star Belgrade of Serbia 3-0 in the Champions League.
"We will never accept a change" in the German goalkeeper, the magazine quoted Hoeness as saying, warning that if that happens, "we will not put any international player (from Bayern) at the disposal of the team."
Hoeness, who has been president of the Bundesliga club since 1979, has launched a scathing attack on Loew and Al Ittihad, saying they did not protect Noyer after Ter Stegen was unhappy with the second-choice goalkeeper.
Ter Stegen, 27, who joined Barcelona in 2014 from Borussia Moenchengladbach, stirred controversy last week by saying: "I'm still trying to do everything, but this trip with Germany was a big setback for me." He will be on the bench for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland.
This was followed by a response from Noir, who stressed that "the matter is closed to me." But he criticized Ter Stegen for what he had done to the team.
"I don't think it is up to Manuel to express my opinion about my feelings," Ter Stegen told a news conference on the eve of his side's Champions League meeting with Borussia Dortmund.
Under FIFA rules, refusing to put international players at the disposal of the coach would result in penalties ranging from fines to the club being banned from competing.
Four players from the Bavarian club, in addition to Neuer, are key pillars of the four-times World Cup winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014): defender Niklas Zule, midfielders Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goritska, and striker Serge Gnabry.