Rummenigge to Florentino: “What you have to do is reduce costs”

The earthquake that is causing the creation of the Superliga for European football has once again served the Bundesliga, headed and led as always by the almighty Bayern Munich, to run as the Robin Hood of this sport. A priori, no German club wants to be part of the elite competition chaired by Florentino Pérez and, in this way, they are once again at the forefront. It already happened at the beginning of the Pandemic, when the Bundesliga was the first to return to the stadiums after developing a health plan that served as a model for many other leagues. Meticulousness, seriousness and solidarity. Very German principles.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Chairman of the Bayern Munich Board of Directors, was forceful in responding to Florentino. “You have to generate more income”, said the Madrid boss during his interview at El Chiringuito, to which his Munich counterpart replied: “What you have to do is reduce costs”. He is right. And his entity, debt-free and healthy to such an extent that it paid the 346 million euros that the Allianz Arena cost 16 years ahead of schedule, serves as an example in terms of financial management. And all this, while friendly non-profit organizations were disputed to rescue entities in the red such as Kaiserslautern or, in its day, the mythical Sankt Pauli.

But Bayern understood for a long time that, in order to continue competing with all those who now want to alleviate their billionaire debts by creating the Super League, they also had to be in solidarity with themselves. Hence, a painting that, repeatedly had criticized the investments of sheikhs and oligarchs in the world of football, ended up selling 24.99 percent of its shares to the multinationals Audi, Allianz and Telekom in exchange for 277 million eurivers. Or that a team, which featured in Kurt Landauer a Jewish president persecuted by the Nazis, has the logo of the state airline of an oppressive country such as Qatar printed on its shirt for around ten kilos per year.

Normal. In Munich they knew that Robin Hood was not going to win the sextet alone. He needed the help of the Wolf of Wall Street to be able to stand up to PSG in Al-Khelaifi or Manchester City in Abu Dhabi. For this reason, Rummenigge was one of the main promoters of the reform of a Champions League that, in the context of the Super League, adopts an ethical nuance, but which, at first, served the same purpose: generating more money for the rich. The same thing happens in the basketball section. Former Bayern president Uli Hoeness, the main promoter of an FC Bayern Basketball that led from second to the Euroleague quarterfinals on the basis of a checkbook, recently said: “I'd rather enter the final four in Europe than be German champion.” Sure.

What has not changed in Germany is the football culture promoted and maintained with a lot of sweat on the part of the fan. He is the true regulatory body of a Bundesliga in which there will be no more matches on Mondays after a series of protests in stadiums where, still, can be accessed for the modest price of 15 euros. For the majority of fans, RB Leipzig is still a “laminated” club that tries to circumvent a law that maintains the essence of football in the Bundesliga: 50 + 1 dictates that an investor cannot win the majority of a team at once. entity. The standard is designed so that teams remain in the hands of their partners. From the fans. From the real Robin Hood of Germany.

“No” to the Super League

In case there was any doubt after the first statement, Bayern launched a new press release on Tuesday in which, this time, they did. categorically rules out his participation in the Super League. According to Der Spiegel, the agreement for the new competition would include a paragraph that suggests that the new world football elite continues to pursue the goal of convincing Dortmund, PSG and Bayern to join the twelve founders of the Super League. But the people of Munich will not give their arm to twist.

“Our partners and fans reject a Super League”Herbert Hainer, president of the club, was quoted in the statement issued through the official website of the Bavarian entity. “As FC Bayern, our wish and our goal is for European clubs to experience this wonderful and exciting Champions League competition and develop it together with UEFA. FC Bayern says no to the Super League,” he stressed Hainer.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge He added: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I can expressly state that FC Bayern does not participate in the Super League. FC Bayern stands in solidarity with the Bundesliga. It was and always is a great pleasure for us to be able to play the Champions League as a representative of Germany. We all fondly remember our Champions League victory in Lisbon in 2020, such a happy moment is never forgotten. For FC Bayern, the Champions League is the best club competition in the world. “