Hoeneß speaks out: Bayern boss criticizes the XXL World Cup | OneFootball

Uli Hoeneß takes aim at the World Cup. The honorary president of FC Bayern has no interest in the XXL tournament in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada—and has some harsh words to say about it.

Hoeneß won’t be attending the World Cup in person. The 74-year-old has little regard for the bloated format in principle—and makes that unmistakably clear in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

But it’s not just the tournament format that bothers the Bayern boss. Even free accommodations couldn’t change his mind. “An acquaintance offered to let me stay at his house in Florida for free during the World Cup,” Hoeneß said.

But the offer likely sapped what little enthusiasm he had left. “And even if I’d been interested, that would have gone out the window once I was told about the house’s prime location,” said the 74-year-old. After all, the property is “five minutes away from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s estate.”

“A fiasco for soccer”

There’s more to the refusal than just the proximity to Trump’s estate. Hoeneß is particularly bothered by the enormous costs the World Cup entails for fans: “I believe this World Cup will be a fiasco for soccer. Two thousand dollars for a mid-tier ticket to the final—where will this end?” he said, criticizing the pricing.

Photo: IMAGO

The longtime Bayern Munich executive has never been fundamentally opposed to commercialism in soccer. In this case, however, he’s drawing a clear line. “I’ve always been in favor of commercialism in soccer, but not in this extreme form. I don’t want to support that by buying tickets,” he emphasized. A trip to North America for the World Cup is therefore definitively off the table for him.

Hoeneß will therefore watch the German national team’s upcoming second group stage match on TV: The team, led by head coach Julian Nagelsmann, will face the Ivory Coast on Saturday evening (10 p.m.).