Franck Ribery rushed to hospital with head injury after car crash

Former Bayern Munich star Frank Ribery was rushed to hospital with a head injury in the early hours of Sunday after being involved in a car crash, according to reports in Italy.

The French international, currently playing in Serie A, was reportedly a passenger in a car when the accident took place.

His club, Salernitana, have confirmed in a statement he will miss training while he recovers from his injuries.

Corriere dello Sport reports that the veteran was taken to hospital in the town of Battipaglia after the accident, which is said to have occurred in the region of Salerno in the early hours of Sunday morning. He has since returned to his home to rest and recover.

The paper also reports that local authorities from Agropoli were at the scene of the accident.

"Following a car accident, the footballer Franck Ribery, who was not driving the car, suffered a slight head injury." a statement from Salernitana read.

"The athlete will remain in rest for a few days as a precaution."

Ribery had been on the books of Salernitana, who sit in Serie A's bottom three, since leaving former club Fiorentina at the end of last season.

The 38-year-old has played 16 times in the league this season, most recently playing 71 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Bologna over the weekend, recording two assists for Davide Nicola's side.

Ribery, who has 81 international caps for France and was part of the side which reached the World Cup final in 2006, spent most of his prior playing career on the books of Bayern Munich.

He was part of the Bayern side which won the Champions League in 2013, starting the final against Borussia Dortmund, and also scored 10 league goals in the 2012-13 season as the Bavarian side won the Bundesliga.

Ribery's achievements that season earned him a podium place in the Ballon d'Or voting, with the Frenchman finishing third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

He left Bayern for Fiorentina in 2019, spending two seasons in Florence and scoring five times for the Viola before joining his current club.

Salernitana, who were in Serie D as recently as 2011-12, have risen up through the Italian pyramid over the last decade and won promotion from Serie B last season after finishing second behind Empoli.