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 soccer, 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.
Unflappable Horschel seals BMW Championship win
Ice-cool American Billy Horschel withstood an early challenge from Ryan Palmer and a late charge by Bubba Watson to win his second PGA Tour title by two shots at the BMW Championship on Sunday.
Putting superbly when the pressure was at its most intense, Horschel fired a one-under-par 69 at Cherry Hills Country Club to hold off his closest pursuers in the PGA Tour's penultimate FedExCup playoff event.
The 27-year-old American, who clinched his maiden victory on the U.S. circuit at the 2013 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, sank clutch par putts from eight feet at the 15th and 16th holes on the way to a 14-under total of 266.
Horschel safely two-putted for par on the 18th green, then gave a little fist pump in celebration before being warmly embraced by his caddie.
"It just means a lot," a smiling Horschel told NBC Sports after climbing into second place in the FedExCup standings ahead of next week's Tour Championship finale in Atlanta.
"I haven't had the greatest season but I had my game today," he added. "I made some big putts and I could rely on my putter because I am a good putter inside 10 feet. This feels good."
Masters champion Watson, five strokes off the pace heading into the final round, surged into contention for the title with four birdies on the back nine as he closed with a third successive 66 to secure outright second place.
American Morgan Hoffmann fired a 63 to finish third at 11 under while Northern Irish world number one Rory McIlroy four-putted the par-three 12th hole for a second day in a row on the way to a 66 and a tie for eighth place at eight under par.
Spaniard Sergio Garcia, helped by an eagle and four birdies in the first 15 holes, briefly got to 12 under but tripled-bogeyed the 17th after chipping his ball across the green into water to close with 67 and finish in a share of fourth, five off the pace.
NBA Hawks' owner to sell control of team, cites racially insensitive remarks
The owner of the Atlanta Hawks announced on Sunday he would sell his controlling interest in the National Basketball Association franchise because of racially insensitive remarks he made, in an echo of a scandal involving the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team.
Hawks owner Bruce Levenson said fans have a right to be angry about an internal email he wrote two years ago about the need to boost arena attendance and how black and white fans differed in what they preferred to see at Hawks’ games.
"In trying to address those issues, I wrote an e-mail two years ago that was inappropriate and offensive," Levenson said in a statement released by the team. "If you're angry about what I wrote, you should be. I'm angry at myself, too. It was inflammatory nonsense. We all may have subtle biases and preconceptions when it comes to race, but my role as a leader is to challenge them, not to validate or accommodate those who might hold them," he added.
His e-mail to team general manager Danny Ferry, which addressed ways to boost the number of season ticket holders, delved into racial makeup of fans at the Hawks arena and suggested that southern white men might not be comfortable in an arena with a high percentage of African American fans.
Levenson's announcement came just over four months after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, in an unprecedented move, banned then Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the league and fined him $2.5 million for making racist remarks.
