The German Football Association (DFB) is probing yellow cards picked up by Werder Bremen midfielders Clemens Fritz and Zlatko Junuzovic at the weekend.
On Saturday, Bremen beat Hannover 4-1 to win their second consecutive Bundesliga match, putting three points between them and the drop zone.
Fritz and Junuzovic both picked up yellow cards in the victory, meaning they are suspended for their match at Bayern next Saturday.
"It was arranged, I'll admit that," Junuzovic, whose fifth booking of the season was for wasting time, said on Sky after the match. "It's better I do it like that, and don't hurt anyone."
And Fritz admitted that "there are many, many important matches against teams in which it might get a bit closer" after his 10th booking of the season.
On Monday, the DFB announced that it has opened preliminary investigations against the Bremen players because of unsportsmanlike conduct, and that the pair could face punishment by the control body of the association.
The players were given time until Tuesday to reply to the DFB, and on Monday Junuzovic backtracked in an interview on the club's official website.
"It was never my goal to the break the rules," he said, and added that he was just "relieved to no longer carry the burden of the four yellow cards."
"It was not discussed beforehand that I shall miss the Bayern match. It was just a stupid statement," he said. "I only played for time, and was booked for that."
About his postmatch interview, he added: "I wanted to be honest, but I lacked the right words."
In mid-February, five Darmstadt picked up yellow cards carrying suspensions for their trip to Bayern when they played Bayer Leverkusen. The club insisted that it was not planned.
