President Herbert Hainer of German soccer champion Bayern Munich defends Hasan Salihamidzic against criticism of his transfer policy. “The successes of the past few years are to be credited to the sports board as well as to the players or coaches, i.e. all German championships and not least the triple,” said Hainer (67) in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Of course, “not all players asserted themselves equally, that was the case in the past,” said Hainer. “Overall, I think Hasan is doing a very good job. He’s a former Bayern player through and through, he knows the club inside out, is incredibly passionate, and works very hard.” The first fruits of the intensive discussion with the next generation can already be seen.
According to information from the President, there are no doubts about coach Julian Nagelsmann (34) in the Bayern committees. “Being a coach at FC Bayern is a different matter than at Hoffenheim or Leipzig,” said Hainer, however: “Young people have to gain experience. Our coach is very ambitious and very eager to learn. We’re happy to have him .”
However, “a certain knowledge of human nature and routine” is an advantage “to orchestrate a star troupe. Logically, a 34-year-old can’t have this experience yet”.
Hainer: No Bayern concessions on TV money
In addition, according to Hainer, Bayern are not willing to make concessions when it comes to the distribution of TV money, even after their tenth championship title in a row. “If the German Football League has an idea how to increase TV revenues or how to create more excitement, we’re happy to talk. But not about how we redistribute the money!” said the FCB President.
The claim is to continue to play internationally for titles. “That must also be in the interest of the league – because without top clubs with international successes, the league will also have problems, the gap to the other top leagues will continue to grow,” argued Hainer.
A new distribution of the funds is pointless anyway: “Suppose you take away 30 million euros in TV revenue from FC Bayern and distribute it among the other Bundesliga clubs, then everyone gets 1.8 million more. Do you think that one of these clubs will lose the championship fight more exciting?” Hainer asked. “But we’re getting weaker internationally! That would hurt the league.”
The CEO Oliver Kahn (52) recently again complained about the disproportionate income from international TV rights in the Bundesliga compared to, for example, the English Premier League. In the discussion about the boredom in the Bundesliga title fight, he was open to talks with the DFL.
