Let $(M,g)$ be a compact, differentiable Riemannian manifold without conjugate points and bounded asymptote. We show that, if the geodesic flow of $(M,g)$ is either topologically stable, or satisfies the $\epsilon$-shadowing property for some appropriate $\epsilon > 0$, then every abelian subgroup of the fundamental group of $M$ is infinite cyclic. The proof is based on the existence of homoclinic geodesics in perturbations of $(M,g)$, whenever there is a subgroup of the fundamental group of $M$ isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}\times \mathbb{Z}$.