Before taking the plane back to Munich, Hansi Flick took his team onto the pitch for one last session at the Aspire Academy on Friday morning. After the physically demanding fitness sessions of the previous days, there was another hard-fought training match. By the end of 14 training sessions within a week, Flick knew how hard his players had worked in Doha. Accordingly, his verdict was a positive one.
"We are very satisfied," the 54-year-old told FC Bayern TV. In addition to the "top conditions" on the Aspire Academy grounds, Flick found words of praise for his players in particular: "The intensity was very, very high right till the end. The whole team "approached the training camp in a very focused way", even though the programme was "pretty tough.”
You can watch the whole conversation with coach Hansi Flick live on Wednesday (20:00 CET) on our TV channel FC Bayern TV..
Especially in the first half of the week, Flick and his staff had decided to focus more on fitness. For the players this meant three sessions a day, including a run at 7:30 in the morning. It was "even more intense than the training camps we've had in the past two or three years," noted sports director Hasan Salihamidžić, "it was great fun watching the guys. They all really pulled their weight."
Flick also praised the team spirit once again: "It's good when the guys are content. When they know: The training has done me a lot of good, it has helped me to progress. The general mood is excellent, we have a good mentality in the team."
FC Bayern Munich also used the training camp to meet and have new discussions with representatives of the German government, NGOs and the Organising Committee of the 2022 World Cup (Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy). For example, FC Bayern Executive board member Andreas Jung and Sports Director Salihamidžić spoke with Houtan Homayounpour, the office manager of the International Labour Union (ILO) at the German Embassy in Doha. The ILO, a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), has maintained an office in Doha since 2018 and supports the Qatari Government in its labour law reform. In the meeting, which was hosted by the German Ambassador Hans-Udo Muzel and in which SPD Secretary General Lars Klingbeil, who was in Qatar at the time, also took part, Homayounpour talked about the work of the ILO and the status of the development of labour and human rights in Qatar.
In addition, Bayern Board Member Jung met the Secretary General of the World Cup Organising Committee, Hassan Al-Thawadi. It was agreed in principle that FC Bayern will host a Round Table, in which Al-Thawadi will participate. The plan is to discuss German and Qatari society, the significance of the 2022 World Cup in Doha for the country and the Arab region, and the criticism of Qatar by human rights organizations. The aim is an objective, direct dialogue, in which FC Bayern fans, NGOs, the city of Munich as a World Cup and European Championship location, politicians and football can be involved.
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