Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, former Bayern Munich CEO and current member of the club’s supervisory board, has taken a firm stance against those who argue that the football calendar is too congested. In a recent interview with Sportbild, Rummenigge addressed various topics, including the new Club World Cup format and the players’ complaints about an excessive number of matches.
Regarding the Club World Cup, Rummenigge expressed his support for the new format, calling it a “world miracle.” He explained, “For a long time, the Club World Cup was a competition devoid of excitement, and now this situation is set to change with the new format.” He criticized the previous seven-team winter tournament as “boring,” stating, “As Champions League winners, you flew there knowing you’d return with another trophy in your luggage. Everything that is predictable and unemotional doesn’t reach the fans.”
Rummenigge sees the reform as an innovative step, saying, “For me, the fact that FIFA is now introducing the new Club World Cup is equivalent to a world miracle: for the first time, a national team competition, the Confederations Cup, has been abandoned in favor of a club competition.”
Addressing the players’ complaints about the increased workload, Rummenigge was particularly critical: “Our players should stop complaining. All the contract negotiations I’ve witnessed with us always go in one direction: higher, further, faster. But all that money has to come from somewhere.”
He pointed out the irony in players’ demands for higher wages while simultaneously complaining about more matches: “Players and their advisors are asking for more, so it’s not just about 2%. Then the money has to come from other competitions, like the new Club World Cup in summer. This is the trap that players have set for themselves.”
Rummenigge also commented on the economic development of football, warning, “If this continues, football will be the only industry in the world that no longer produces profits, but only losses. We’re all heading towards a wall, and no one is willing to turn off the gas. If a Bayern player earns ‘only’ 15 million euros instead of 20 million, I still think that’s a crazy amount, if you’ll allow me the wordplay.”
On the topic of the Super League, Rummenigge was dismissive: “As it was originally designed with top clubs from England, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany, it will never exist. Because no one will participate, except for Real Madrid and Barcelona.”
Rummenigge concluded with a call for perspective in German football: “In Germany, we need to stop believing that only our catalog of values should be imposed on the entire world. Politicians and, unfortunately, football too are making this big mistake. Franz Beckenbauer always said: ‘If you point your finger at others, four fingers are pointing back at you.'”
