Franck Ribery was about to move from Bayern to Real Madrid in 2010. Uli Hoeneß now revealed how they convinced him to stay.
Uli Hoeneß defended FC Bayern Munich’s Qatar sponsorship. In a detailed interview with the dpa the long-time Bayern maker also spoke about the turbulent annual general meeting, a possible vaccination requirement and his change of opinion with Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
“I don’t think that the fact that Bayern are holding a training camp in Qatar, like our women’s team now in winter, for example, means that things will get worse there. On the contrary,” said Hoeneß of the controversial Qatar -Sponsoring. “Human rights only get better if you repeatedly point out the grievances in the dialogue. Only then will things improve. My conviction is that you have to be present there.”
Because of concerns about the local human rights situation, many fans are calling for the Qatar sponsorship to be terminated. Hoeness would rather “tend towards an extension if we have the feeling that with this partnership we can make a contribution to improving things locally will continue to improve “. The partnership with Qatar Airways runs until 2023.
Also because of this controversial topic, the annual general meeting escalated in November, which Hoeneß called the “worst event” he had ever experienced at Bayern. A spontaneous speech on the podium failed for technical reasons. “I’m glad that the microphone ran out of juice,” said Hoeneß.
“I would have wanted to stand by Herbert Hainer and Oliver Kahn. I would have wanted to tell people that it is legitimate to see things critically. But they are also part of FC Bayern. And the image that FC Bayern has of it That evening, none of us could have liked, “said Hoeneß. “As I know myself, my words would have come out of me emotionally – and even if I had meant well in terms of FC Bayern, it would probably have been counterproductive in this atmosphere. In the time it took to turn the microphone back on, the impulse came up in my head, no, that doesn’t fit now. “
Uli Hoeneß speaks out against compulsory vaccination
In addition, Hoeneß spoke out against compulsory corona vaccination. “I am clearly in favor of vaccination, but not compulsory vaccination,” he said. “At times I was in favor of it, but then I imagined: What do you do with a person who absolutely does not want to be vaccinated? I consider compulsory vaccination without ifs and buts to be too big a problem that can tend to divide society.”
Instead, he relies on persuasion and dialogue, which caused the initially skeptical Joshua Kimmich to rethink. “Joshua is a fantastic example of how you can change your mind. I’ve talked to him one time or another without applying any pressure,” said Hoeneß.
Uli Hoeneß explains rethinking at Lauterbach
Hoeneß himself had recently rethought his opinion of the SPD politician and health minister Karl Lauterbach. “As long as he was not in office, I had my problems with him. I thought that he knew everything better. Now I’m a total fan of Karl Lauterbach, because I have the feeling that he understands a lot about the matter and is a Doer is, “said Hoeneß.
“For example, he takes stock of the vaccine and worries about what is missing. As soon as the drug Paxlovid against severe Covid courses has been accepted, he orders a million packs. His predecessor Jens Spahn was the announcement world champion, but achieved little.” Lauterbach, on the other hand, has “a vision, he has an idea – and he implements it. That’s why I totally changed my mind about Lauterbach.”
With the new traffic light coalition consisting of the SPD, Greens and FDP, the declared CSU sympathizer Hoeneß is “happy at the moment”, but not with the situation at the Union partner CDU: “As long as the CDU, I consciously say the CDU, not the CSU , is still preoccupied with herself, I would not trust her to have a government that currently has so many problems to solve. “
Hoeneß on his successors and a Ribery anecdote
Hoeneß is satisfied with the work of his successors at the top of the FC Bayern club, President Herbert Hainer, CEO Oliver Kahn and Sports Director Hasan Salihamidzic. “If I interfere too much and allow myself to be seen too often, that’s not good,” says Hoeneß, but is always available for advice.
“Of course I’m there if my successor Herbert Hainer wants to discuss something. Hasan Salihamidzic often invites me to have a coffee. I have less contact with Oliver Kahn at the moment, but that’s normal. He wants to create his own style, and that’s good so “, said Hoeneß and called the relationship between the two” excellent “.
Hoeneß, who is celebrating his 70th birthday on January 5th, thanked his wife Susi for “always keeping her back free”: “As a manager, I often called in the morning that I would come home with people to eat in the evening An example: When the story with Franck Ribery at FC Bayern seemed to come to an end in 2010 because his agents had more or less sold him to Real Madrid, we invited him and his wife Wahiba to dinner with us . Susi cooked halal especially for her, we had a wonderful evening, and around midnight Wahiba finally said: ‘Franck, nous restons a Munich!’ We stay in Munich. “