Uli Hoeneß has a lot of time at the moment. The Honorary President of FC Bayern Munich rushes from interview to interview. One of his favorite topics is the 50 1 rule. It has to fall for the good of the league, he says, and is met with headwind from Dortmund. Then he likes to taunt him.
In the discussion between the two major German football clubs about the abolition of the 50 1 rule, Bayern Munich's honorary president Uli Hoeneß described Dortmund's club boss Hans-Joachim Watzke as a major brakeman. "Mr. Watzke is known for doing it wisely," said Hoeneß on the sidelines of the "Neuland" future congress in Aachen on Wednesday and added with a view to the listed BVB: "Borussia Dortmund doesn't have much to sell anymore because they considerably more than 50 percent have already sold."
Hoeneß, however, bypasses the core of the discussion with his statement. The question of how the clubs can protect themselves from being taken over by investors and thus prevent the game ball from becoming a dubious owner. The e.V. of BVB holds less than five percent of the shares in Borussia Dortmund GmbH Co. KGaA. However, the personally liable partner is Borussia Dortmund Management GmbH, which is 100 percent owned by the club. In this way, the Bundesliga club ensures that no external investor can take control.
Hoeneß had pleaded for the abolition of the regulation that prevents sponsors from taking over the majority shares in the club. Watzke then assured that "there will be no change in Germany under my responsibility as DFL supervisory board chairman in the next few years. That's one hundred percent certain." He also told the "Bild am Sonntag": "The fascinating thing about Uli Hoeneß' argument is that he proposes something to other clubs, but then explicitly excludes FC Bayern."
That's exactly what Hoeneß emphasized again on Wednesday. "I was criticized a bit by Mr. Watzke, saying that as a Bayern Munich representative I wouldn't benefit. But I'm thinking about the whole league," he said: "It's not about Bayern or Borussia Dortmund, but about many smaller ones Clubs that would have more options when it comes to refinancing transfers or infrastructure if this clause were removed."
He is thinking, for example, of Eintracht Frankfurt, Werder Bremen or Borussia Mönchengladbach, who "with reasonable investors would have many more opportunities in international comparison. We at Bayern would not use it because we have a regulation with our members that we do not sell more than 30 percent without their consent."
