Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß has spoken out in favor of a German bid for the Olympic Games – even if there is no majority in the population for it.
“If you ask tomorrow whether you’ll get 50 percent, it probably won’t be the case. No party in our government has 50 percent, and we still govern,” said Hoeneß in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper”.
“I don’t even know if you always have to have majorities,” added the former national soccer player. You have to “find courageous and reasonable people for the Olympics, who you can’t assume have any interests of their own and who say: We’ll do it, and if you don’t like it, you can slip down our hump,” said the 70-year-old, a ” total supporter of Olympic Games in Germany”.
The European Championships in Munich proved: “Germany is capable of doing something like that.” Before the Multi-EM in August, “no one knew how the mood among the people was. This event showed that people are ready,” said Hoeneß. The Bayern club icon was one of the amateur selection of the Federal Republic of Germany at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich.
Hoeneß: Olympic Games are “valuable”
Regardless of the assassination attempt by the Palestinian terrorists, taking part 50 years ago was one of his “most impressive experiences”. As a counterweight, the Olympics are “the only way to protest against football,” affirmed the former world and European champion.
The games are also “politically (…) valuable – because you don’t differentiate between black and white, old and young. You’re just an athlete,” said Hoeneß.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) wants to start an Olympic application. “It’s no longer a secret, we want the Olympic Games in Germany,” DOSB President Thomas Weikert said at the SID MixedZone event in August. An application would be possible at the earliest for the 2034 Winter Games or the 2036 Summer Games.