What is behind Uli Hoeneß’ attack on 50 + 1

The topic is explosive. In recent years, a number of professional clubs have spun off their licensed player departments as corporations in order to raise a lot of money from investors through shares and other voting shares. At VfB Stuttgart, for example, this only happened to the angry protests of the ultra scene, at Hertha BSC or TSV 1860 Munich the entry of individual investors went horribly wrong. At the same time, English Premier League clubs from the Middle East and the US are being pumped full of money, which has thrown wage structures and transfer fees out of joint.

The Hoeneß advance is not the first of its kind. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, longtime CEO of FC Bayern, also criticized. “From my personal point of view, clubs should not be forbidden to open up to new investment models,” wrote Rummenigge in January in a guest article for “Bild am Sonntag”. In particular, the “somewhat battered traditional clubs, some of which now play in the second and third leagues, would have the opportunity to regain sporting importance”.

If Germany wants to remain a top location in European competition, “I think a serious and less emotional discussion about the 50+1 rule is absolutely necessary,” said Rummenigge, who Oliver Kahn replaced as CEO: “We were always at Bayern Munich I believe that every club should decide for itself whether and to what extent it wants to open up to donors.”

He understands that “in the traditional football country of Germany, this is a difficult topic and that FC St. Pauli, for example, would probably never consider such an opening”. But there are “de facto” with Bayer Leverkusen, 1899 Hoffenheim and VfL Wolfsburg “three clubs that are allowed to circumvent the 50+1 rule through an exception regulation of the DFL and the DFB criticized by the cartel office”.

In April, Rummenigge added to Bild TV: “The top of the Bundesliga needs more emotions and more excitement, like the Premier League or Italy.” His Bayern had just won the championship for the tenth time in a row. Four years ago he had called for an end to the investor limit. “I hope that the German Football League will release the 50+1 rule,” he told GQ magazine.

Munich’s own interests are likely to play a role. For classification: according to the statutes, the professional company of the record champion may only sell 30 percent of its shares. FC Bayern München eV currently holds 75 percent of the shares in FC Bayern AG. Long-term partners Adidas, Allianz and Audi each own 8.33 percent.