FC Bayern Munich will take on 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 27 May (18.30 CEST) at the Fritz Walter Stadion. Bayern have confirmed they will take part in a so-called benefit match to help 1. FC Kaiserslautern gain the licence they need to play in the third division next season. All income from the match will go to 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
“1. FC Kaiserslautern are one of Germany’s biggest traditional clubs,” stated FC Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “For many years there were intense, and in retrospect also legendary, Bayern matches at Kaiserslautern. Football is all about emotions and sporting rivalries, but also about solidarity. That’s why we’re happy to help and hope 1. FC Kaiserslautern can once again gain promotion back to the Bundesliga in the foreseeable future.”
1. FC Kaiserslautern were relegated from the Bundesliga in 2012, and in 2018 they dropped out of Bundesliga 2. “The idea and initiative to talk to FC Bayern came from Hans-Peter Briegel and Paul Wüst,” said Martin Bader, sporting chief executive at Kaiserslautern. “We’re really pleased that FC Bayern Munich have been able to confirm so early that they will play a friendly against us at the Betzenberg. The income from the game will be an important part in the process of gaining of our playing licence. We are incredibly thankful to the people in charge at FC Bayern and are looking forward to the meeting on 27 May.”
FC Bayern have been staging such benefit matches for more than 15 years. The first took place in 2003 at the Millerntor in Hamburg against FC St. Pauli. In 2017 Kickers Offenbach were able to use the money from a benefit match to close the gap in their funding and avoid bankruptcy.
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