'Not a Farmers' League' - Why Bayern Munich don't want Cristiano Ronaldo
Stuart Telford
- Updated: 13 Jul 2022 09:43 BST
- 4 min read
Bayern Munich have no interest in signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, but club CEO Oliver Kahn wants to look at a change in the rules that might make such signings possible throughout the Bundesliga.
Ronaldo is reportedly seeking a move away from Manchester United after the club failed to qualify for the Champions League in 2021/22, and his agent Jorge Mendes has been busy offering his services to Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and others.
Whilst Bayern baulked at paying out for a 37-year-old approaching the autumn of his career, they have been busy in the summer transfer window, signing Sadio Mane from Liverpool for €32 million while they look to add Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt to their ranks.
Bayern and Dortmund spending big...
Borussia Dortmund have also done some serious business, picking up Sebastien Haller from Ajax for €34.5m, Karim Adeyemi from Red Bull Salzburg for €30m as well as acquiring Germany defender Niklas Sule on a free from Bayern.
But the fact remains that Bayern have won each of the last 10 Bundesliga titles since Dortmund beat them to the punch under Jurgen Klopp back in 2012. The Bavarians have also won a record 31 of a possible 58 league titles since the Bundesliga's inauguration in 1963 - more than 53 per cent of those available.
Kahn - who won the Bundesliga eight times as a goalkeeper with Bayern - thinks the 50+1 rule in German football might be to blame.
Kahn: "As far as I'm concerned, I'm not looking to make friends, I just want to keep FC Bayern at the top - and for that we all need a top-class league. We don't want to hear from England that we in Germany are some kind of a Farmers League"
— Bayern & Die Mannschaft (@iMiaSanMia_en) July 12, 2022
"We should continue to consider whether the 50+1 rule makes sense," he told German sports monthly 11 Freunde. "You can assume that our competition would get stronger if this rule gets abolished. The whole thing has now become an ideology. Anyone who questions the concept is automatically the bad guy.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm not looking to make friends, I just want to keep FC Bayern at the top - and for that we all need a top-class league. We don't want to hear from England that we in Germany are some kind of a Farmers' League."
Bayern's dominance, both on-field and financial, perpetuates the perception of a lack of competitiveness. If Ronaldo was to join up, that feeling that FCB have a monopoly of German football would only be heightened.
What is 50+1?
The 50+1 rule in German football assures that no club can be majority-owned by a private investor. In order to compete in the Bundesliga, a club must hold most of its own voting rights. The rule ensures club members - ergo, fans - maintain overall control of their club.
There are exceptions, such a Bayer Leverkusen, who are backed by pharmaceutical company Bayer, and Wolfsburg, funded by car manufacturer Volkwagen, two clubs that their parent companies owned before the Bundesliga's inception.
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The upside is that the fans aren't alienated from their league. Ticket prices are fair, youth players get a chance, and there is a good platform for the most successful European nation in World Cup history.
The downside is that no investor can come in and upset the applecart like they can in England. Chelsea would unlikely have toppled Manchester United and Arsenal without Roman Abramovich's money in the early 2000s. But such a figure wouldn't have looked at a German club without having the final say on their investment.
