Bayern Munich’s Mohamed Elneny and Niklas Suele failed a doping test administered by the German soccer federation.
At 0:50 in the video below, Diana Mordddi, sports director of the federation’s AFA lab, said both are “in violation of UEFA regulations concerning doping,” as Bayern’s players returned for training on Wednesday.
UEFA and Fifa must now approve the substitution of Elneny and Suele.
Coach Pep Guardiola said he had no information about the issue at the club.
“This is not news to me at all,” he said. “First of all, I don’t know anything about this. I don’t know how the first thing got in. Maybe it’s a misunderstanding. But at this point it’s not news to me and for the moment I don’t know anything.”
Guardiola declined to answer when asked if he had spoken to Elneny, who has made seven appearances for Bayern after joining from Arsenal in the summer.
The virus reportedly came from a cokada-19 sample that came back positive a day before Bayern hosted Bayer Leverkusen last Thursday. The normally tense Munich derby ended in stalemate. Elneny was suspended after coming on as a late substitute. He could be provisionally suspended for a further seven matches, but if he accepts the results will be ruled out on the second day of a ban.
Suele has played only one Bundesliga game for Bayern since arriving on July 30, following his move from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
Joachim Loew, Germany’s head coach, said he was aware of the matter. He said he will convene a meeting of the team management within 48 hours to discuss its status.
“I know that a meeting will be called after 48 hours where we will get together again, at least to discuss, it would be best to see what has happened,” Loew said.