Dante, Luiz Gustavo out of Pokal Final; Brazil's ridiculous demand to blame

As I'm sure you've read by now, Bayern Munich have released Dante and Luiz Gustavo early to return to Brazil ahead of training for the Confederations Cup. The two will miss Saturday's DFB Pokal Final against Stuttgart due to this nonsense.

The issue stems from the following: FIFA rules state that clubs must release players at least two weeks before official tournaments if the nations request it. Brazil's first match in the Confederations Cup is June 15, so they are demanding that their players be in camp on June 1. Normally, this would be no problem. However...

PROBLEM: The Pokal Final is on Saturday June 1.

Bayern have been forced to release the two players. The club tried to negotiate with the Brazilian federation, but they refused to budge. Brazil sporting director Carlos Alberto Parreira even threatened to remove the two players from the squad if they did not show up on time. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is not pleased.

"You have a clear impression that a form of psychological terror is being used against the two players. I find the pressure being applied inhumane and unscrupulous. More than anything else, I think it's very unfair, because the players are being forced into a position that I believe is unacceptable."

Obviously, the situations is unfortunate for Bayern and the two players involved. The club could have refused to release them, but Brazil were threatening legal action. The result of said legal action could have seen Bayern being forced to forfeit any potential victory on Saturday.

However, the Seleção are allowing Neymar to fly to Barcelona on Monday to be introduced at Barcelona! Yes. They are. What a farce! Unfortunately, while Neymar is basically guaranteed a place in the Brazil side, Dante and Gustavo have finally worked their way into the squad and don't want to risk their international careers now. That's completely understandable from their perspective.

The easy thing to do is ask why the DFB have scheduled the Pokal Final for June 1 with the knowledge that the Confederations Cup was only two weeks away. Well, you find another time that this game could have taken place.