Hoeneß and Kind attack "50+1 hypocrisy" at Hannover roundtable
an event organized by the "Hannover Neue Presse" yesterday, Hannover 96 President Martin Kind and Bayern's now honorary "President Emeritus" Uli Hoeneß both spoke out against German football's tight defense of the 50+1 fan ownership model.
A staged roundtable featuring Hannover 96's Martin Kind and Bayern's Uli Hoeneß produced the type of quotes German football lovers might have expected yesterday. Kind (who famously took German football's 50+1 fan-ownership model to court some years back) and Hoeneß (never shy about expressing his opinion on anything that benefits Bayern) both aimed critical comments at the DFL, Germany's main league body.
The event had a certain premeditated feel to it, with Kind showering Hoeneß' Bayern with praise for "successfully representing Germany on the international stage for over a decade". Kind called Bayern a "role model and example to us all" for maintaining such success "both in sporting and financial terms."
After Kind was done speaking, Hoeneß returned the favor by expressing support for Kind's crusade to end 50+1. Hoeneß pointed out that Bayern - with approximately 70 percent fan ownership - should be allowed to take in additional money from outside investors. The long-time German footballing executive even went for a direct attack on his direct rival; 50+1 champion Hans Joachim Watzke of Borussia Dortmund.
"Naturally, we would be in favor of this rule [50+1] falling," Hoeneß noted, "It puts German football totally behind internationally. That's why England is so far ahead of us. It's also hypocritical. Watzke hides behind '50+1 Fables'. Dortmund is a typical business enterprise with their shares distributed on the market. They don't really comply. I suspect they take their position because they don't want others to raise capital."
Kind's proposal, along with exception cases for clubs such as Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg, and Leverkusen, remain matters that the Bundesrepublik's federal anti-trust-body receives regular inquires about. The Cartel Office has remained fairly clear on the status of these clubs, but (as per usual) not clear enough for Kind,
"They'll keep kicking the can down the road," Kind noted, "But they won't clarify. For example, they issue rulings on federal law without addressing European law. Lawsuits [like the one Kind brought] are a means of obtaining clarity."
Kind criticized the DFL for not pushing the Cartel Office harder. Hoeneß went on a further tirade against Watzke's leadership role at the DFL.
"Dortmund have a slender lead when it comes to this," Hoeneß noted with no small amount of snark, "but in the end, they will come in second again."