Bayern Munich must be punished for fielding 12 players on the pitch at one time during their Bundesliga victory over Freiburg on Saturday, according to former player Dietmar Hamann.
The Bavarian outfit fielded an additional player during the closing stages of their 4-1 win at Europa-Park Stadion, after Niklas Sule was brought onto the pitch to replace the already departed Corentin Tolisso before a switch between Kingsley Coman and Marcel Sabitzer could take place.
Around 20 seconds were played before proceedings were brought to a halt, leading to a significant delay towards the closing stages of the match, and now Hamann has weighed in on the matter, stating that Bayern must face disciplinary action.
What has been said?
"It's a violation of the rules," Hamann stated while covering the game for Sky Sport Germany.
"If one goes onto the field, another has to go down. It doesn't matter whether they play 20 seconds, twelve or five minutes.
"There is no question in my mind that it must be punished."
What are the rules?
The procedure laid out by the DFB for substitutions reads that in the event of any such incident, the match is forfeit by a two-goal margin to the opposition side.
"If a player is not entitled to play or to field a game, the team that culpably fielded this player loses the game 0-2 and the opponent wins 2-0, unless the match has not been restarted by the referee after the player who is ineligible to play has been fielded," per the DFB's rules.
Freiburg so far have not indicated whether they will seek action against Bayern over the matter, but given that victory would have seen them keep on pace with fourth-place RB Leipzig in the race for the Champions League, the matter is likely to rumble on over the coming days.