“Cheap trick”: Bayern bosses face sharp criticism | OneFootball

Michael Ott has once again voiced sharp criticism of the FC Bayern club management. The lawyer, who has been campaigning for years against controversial sponsorships of the record champions, is defending himself after the turbulent annual general meeting against attacks from President Herbert Hainer and CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen – and he finds clear words in doing so.

In an interview with Spox, Bayern member Ott explains why he considers the new sponsorship with Emirates to be a mistake and how the reactions from the club management have disappointed him. At the annual general meeting one and a half weeks ago, he criticized in a speech that the airline from the United Arab Emirates is part of state structures involved in human rights violations in Sudan. “It must be made clear that there are also Bayern fans who will not accept such sponsorship without protest,” says Ott: “Constant dripping wears away the stone.”

But instead of approval, there were boos and ridicule in the hall. Dreesen greeted him sardonically with the words: “Mr. Ott, nice to see you again. I missed you last year. Maybe you were on vacation. Hopefully not on a flight.” Ott counters: “Basically, it is unobjective to attack the messenger instead of the message. That distracts from the issue.”

Ott is particularly disappointed by President Herbert Hainer. “The president who was up for election and whom I specifically asked for his opinion did not dare to express his own opinion,” he explains. Hainer and his vice presidents “hid behind Dreesen.” In addition, Dreesen “talked past my arguments and took refuge in pseudo-arguments that do not address the problem at all.”

One main argument of the Bayern officials was that the club could not solve international conflicts. Ott counters: “Of course, FC Bayern cannot solve such conflicts. But it should not hinder the resolution of conflicts by giving these states a clean image. That is something completely different.” He also rejects the argument that the money is needed to remain internationally competitive: “That is a sad admission that the ideals at FC Bayern are apparently for sale.”

Ott expresses disappointment with Bayern President Hainer

Finally, Hainer responded again to the debate at an event by the Munich Abendzeitung – and accused Ott of mainly seeking his “own stage.” The lawyer does not want to accept this statement: “I am surprised and disappointed by such cheap polemics from my club president. He is trying to silence me on the grounds that I am egocentric. That is a cheap trick.”

Photo: IMAGO

Ott defends himself against the insinuation that he is seeking attention: “Anyone who says something like that seems unable to imagine that someone can get involved out of idealism and without ulterior motives.” He emphasizes that he deliberately only comments on sponsorship topics: “I regularly receive interview requests on all sorts of topics. I decline such requests because I do not want to push myself into the public eye as a general critic of FC Bayern.”

For him, it is not about personal vanity, but about principle: “I just want my club to behave as correctly as possible. We are not talking about splitting hairs here, but about the absolute minimum that should be expected from any partner: respect for human rights.”

Ott’s conclusion is correspondingly sobering: “This shows me that there is still a lot to be done at FC Bayern in the future.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.