Nowadays, the board room at Bayern Munich is taking up the mantle of FC Hollywood from the locker room. There has been constant tension between the supervisory board, helmed by chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and honorary president Uli Hoeneß, and pretty much everyone else. Nothing and no one is ever good enough for the former Bayern legends.
The most recent kerfuffle took place over the contract extension of Max Eberl, Bayern’s director of sport. Eberl has been publicly criticized for being too soft
in negotiations while not communicating with the supervisory board.
According to Sport 1’s Stefan Kumberger (via @iMiaSanMia), the supervisory board’s approval for Max Eberl’s new contract wasn’t as smooth as was portrayed.
Eberl did not receive unanimous backing, as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge broke ranks and abstained from the vote. Uli Hoeneß admitted on Monday that he faced criticism internally for jumping the gun and saying that Max Eberl was 100% to get a new contract back at the end of July – the loudest criticism indeed came from Rummenigge.
Kumberger added that Rummenigge’s abstention was understood as a double message. On the one hand, he remains critical of Eberl’s work and is closely monitoring him. On the other hand, Rummenigge made it clear that he was not prepared to readily endorse every decision that Hoeneß and Herbert Hainer prepare.
On a broader note, the fact that the supervisory board is currently exerting more influence on operational matters is not sitting well with everyone at the club. Influential voices want a strong executive board that makes independent decisions – and is not constantly directed from above.
Eventually, Rummenigge and Hoeneß will need to clear the way for the new guard. As Bayern fans have discovered on numerous occasions, it is unlikely that the pair will depart in any way other than on their own terms.
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