Frankfurt captain banned for 7 weeks for knocking over coach
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Eintracht Frankfurt captain David Abraham was banned Wednesday for all the German soccer club’s remaining Bundesliga games this year after knocking over an opposition coach.
The defender body checked 54-year-old Freiburg coach Christian Streich with his shoulder during Sunday’s league game while trying to gather a ball which had gone out of play.
Freiburg players and staff then chased Abraham onto the field, sparking a mass brawl.
The German soccer federation, known as the DFB, banned Abraham for seven weeks through Dec. 29, ruling him out of six upcoming Bundesliga games, and fined him 25,000 euros ($27,500).
Freiburg player Vincenzo Grifo was banned for three games after the video assistant referee system spotted him targeting Abraham for retaliation in the melee.
Both clubs said they would appeal against the bans handed down by the DFB’s sports court.
“Eintracht Frankfurt and the player will file an appeal against this ruling in order to give David Abraham the ability to express himself in person before the DFB sports court about what happened in Freiburg,” Frankfurt said.
Abraham has played in Germany since 2013 and for Frankfurt since 2015. He’s also played six times for Argentina. Grifo was born in Germany but has made two appearances for Italy.
Freiburg is fourth in the league after winning Sunday’s game 1-0, while Frankfurt is ninth.
