‘Not up to Ribery to retire from France’

BERLIN — France winger Franck Ribery’s decision to retire from international football after missing the World Cup could lead to a suspension from club football, UEFA President Michel Platini said on Sunday.

The Bayern Munich player, who missed the Brazil tournament in June and July despite intensive treatment for a lower back injury, announced last month he would not play for France any longer to focus on club football with the German champions.

“He cannot decide by himself whether he will play for France or not,” Platini, the head of European football, told Germany’s Bild newspaper.

“If coach Didier Deschamps calls him up he must come to the national team. If he does not show up he will be suspended for three Bayern Munich games.”

Platini is a former France captain who led them to the 1984 European Championship title.

Ribery, a 2006 World Cup finalist who was Europe’s player of the year in 2013, said he wanted to make way for a younger generation of players.

The 31-year-old won 81 caps and scored 16 international goals since making his debut for France in 2006.

Ribery’s France career was also marked by a players’ revolt at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with the winger at the forefront of the strike in support of forward Nicolas Anelka who had been kicked out of the squad for insulting then coach Raymond Domenech.