It’s about his former Munich club
Laughter in the room: Völler wants to persuade Nagelsmann to do this
June 9, 2026 – 9:37 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
On the second day in Winston-Salem, Rudi Völler is asked about his troubled former club. His answer causes laughter among the journalists.
William Laing reports from the DFB team headquarters in Winston-Salem
DFB sports director Rudi Völler has pledged his support to TSV 1860 Munich after their forced relegation to the regional league. The former striker, who played for Giesinger between 1980 and 1982, announced on Tuesday at the DFB team headquarters in Winston-Salem that he wanted to take part in the “Freedom for Sixty” fundraising campaign launched by the fans.
“I’m definitely there,” Völler said at a press conference in one of the lecture halls at Wake Forest University. He will also “persuade Julian Nagelsmann to be there.” The statement led to the first laughs among the journalists present, because national coach Nagelsmann played for 1860 Munich in his youth. However, he later became coach of the much more successful city rivals FC Bayern.
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Accordingly, Völler followed up again. “He won’t have the courage to say he won’t give anything,” said the 66-year-old. “I’ll persuade him.” This was followed by further, much louder laughter in the hall.
Völler is “of course still sorry” for the situation in Munich
Völler then returned to the seriousness of the situation. “Of course I’m still sorry, it’s a traditional club,” said the 1990 world champion about the situation at the “Lions”. He hopes that the club will “get back up quickly.”
1860 Munich finished the previous season in eighth place in the 3rd league. However, due to failure to provide proof of liquidity on time, the club will not receive the license for the coming season in German professional football. The result: The club has to make the bitter journey to the fourth-class Regionalliga Bayern. Already in 2017, 1860 had to cope with forced relegation due to a lack of funds.