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Eintracht Frankfurt captain David Abraham has been banned for seven weeks for knocking over Freiburg coach Christian Streich during a Bundesliga game.
Freiburg were leading 1-0 when the ball went out of play in stoppage time. Streich let the ball go by as Abraham tried to recover it, and the Frankfurt captain body-checked the coach with his shoulder as he ran past. Upset Freiberg players and staff then chased the defender onto the field.
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The ban means Abraham will not be available for selection until Frankfurt return from winter break against Hoffenheim on Jan. 18. He will be banned until Dec. 29 — a span of six matches. He was also fined €25,000.
The sanctions also come in addition to a reported club fine of €35,000.
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 are fourth in the league after winning Sunday’s game 1-0, while Frankfurt are ninth.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.