Kahn expresses wish for dialogue with members over sponsorship issue
The new FC Bayern München boss from which many members hope for a change in direction took to twitter on Sunday afternoon to address the controversy stemming from the club's sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways.
Oliver Kahn spoke in generalities, but did address the dust-up that took place during the club's general meeting on Thursday and promised that the club would try and heal the rift with some of its members.
We'll supply a translation of Kahn's statements.
A petition from local lawyer Michael Ott appealing for an orderly end to Bayern's sponsorship deal with one of Qatar's state-run companies was basically ignored by the German record championship club. After an appeal through the courts to push the matter onto the agenda for a vote also failed, the last recourse involved vocal protests at the FCB's general membership meeting on Thursday.
Oliver Kahn spoke in generalities, but did address the dust-up that took place during the club's general meeting on Thursday and promised that the club would try and heal the rift with some of its members.
We'll supply a translation of Kahn's statements.
Speaking to German footballing magazine Kicker on Sunday, Bayern president Herbert Hainer confirmed that he had arranged a meeting with Ott and also noted that "we will learn from this". Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's successor as top sporting boss also spoke out in a series of tweets on his official account.
Die Jahreshauptversammlung am Donnerstag beschäftigt mich natürlich immer noch sehr. Offenbar ist in den Emotionen einiges nicht angekommen, was mir in Zukunft wichtig ist. Es hat sich erneut gezeigt, wie wichtig der Austausch zwischen dem @FCBayern und unseren Mitgliedern ist. pic.twitter.com/k2ECRmkbBz
— Oliver Kahn (@OliverKahn) November 28, 2021
Dabei haben die Anregungen unserer Mitglieder eine entscheidende Rolle gespielt. Trotzdem gibt es noch viel zu tun und zu verbessern! Zum Qatar-Airways-Sponsoring werden wir uns ein möglichst breites Meinungsbild unserer Mitglieder einholen.#WeiterImmerWeiter #MiaSanMia
— Oliver Kahn (@OliverKahn) November 28, 2021
A translation of Kahn's statements:
"Thursday's annual meeting remains very much on my mind. We obviously have an emotional split; something that that is quite important to me going forward. [The events] reminded me of how important the dialogue between FC Bayern München and our members is."
"I'm very aware of this. Since I've returned to our club, we've already initiated several actions. I'm thinking specifically of the member dialogue we held in the spring and the joint crafting of a club mission statement, which we shall present shortly."
"The suggestions of our members played an important role [in the mission statement]. There is nevertheless a lot to do in terms of improvement. On the matter of the Qatar Airways Sponsorship, we will seek out as broad an opinion as possible from our members."