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By Darren Ennis
BRUSSELS, Aug 11 (Reuters) - SV Hamburg have threatened Belgium with court action over their refusal to send defender Vincent Kompany back to the German club on Monday, the Belgian FA said in a statement.
The 22-year-old Kompany is playing in the Olympics in China.
"Following the decision not to return Vincent Kompany to his club after Belgium's game against China on Aug. 10 ... SV Hamburg considers taking legal action and requests his suspension from the Olympics," the statement said. "The club will also ask FIFA to take action against the Belgian FA over its action."
The Bundesliga side were not available for comment when contacted by Reuters, but according to an announcement on its website, Kompany was "expected to resume first team training after his arrival in Hamburg on Tuesday".
"We have an agreement with the Belgian FA that we can have him back after their second game. Our squad is not strong enough at the moment that we can do without him," coach Martin Jol told the club's website (www.svhamburg.de)
Kompany will miss his team's final Group C match on Wednesday after being sent off in the 1-0 defeat to Brazil last week.
But Belgium's 2-0 win over the hosts on Sunday means a draw against the Kiwis will be enough to secure a quarter final berth.
"Vincent Kompany by his own initiative has decided he wants to stay with the team in China," the Belgian FA said in its statement.
Kompany's refusal to return to Germany is the latest club-versus-country row to hit the Games. On Saturday, Serbia was ordered by Partizan Belgrade to return two of its players for their Champions League tie with Fenerbahce on Wednesday.
It followed a long-running dispute between Argentina and Barcelona over the participation of Lionel Messi at the Olympics and a similar disagreement between German clubs Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 over Brazilian pair Diego and Rafinha.
All three clubs eventually allowed their players to remain in China, despite CAS ruling in their favour after the clubs had all appealed against a FIFA ruled obliging them to release under-23 players for the Olympics.
