President Herbert Hainer at the Zonta women's movement: ‘Promoting encounters’

There were memories of Franz Beckenbauer, a quote from Margaret Thatcher with a smirk and shared learning effects as Herbert Hainer appeared as a guest speaker at this year's meeting of the Zonta women's movement at the offices of Ernst & Young in Munich. Following his speech, he also took part in a panel discussion before heading off to the Allianz Arena for the match against VfB Stuttgart. “One of Zonta's guiding principles is: ‘Zonta is encounter, worldwide’. That's also how I see a sports club. With our Red against Racism initiative for diversity, we too have set ourselves the goal of promoting encounters,” said the FC Bayern president in front of around 80 representatives from society and culture, led by chairwoman Professor Dr Hoda Tawfik.

Hainer began his speech to the Zontians, as they call themselves, with a self-deprecating reference to a quote from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was once a Zonta member. The so-called Iron Lady once said: “If you want to hear a speech, go to a man. If you want to see action, go to a woman.” The president then explained that FC Bayern is also constantly learning about diversity, and at the same time referred to previous support within the club, where women were able to play football even though there was still an official ban on them. When the German Football Association lifted the ban in 1970, Bayern, unlike others, already had a team ready. Hainer added: “There is hardly any other top European club that can look back on such a tradition. Women's football has come a long way at FC Bayern, but it had the potential to be a success story right from the start.”

As president, Beckenbauer was a decisive driving force when he returned from the Women's World Cup in the USA in 1999 and increased the budget to 300,000 Deutschmark, Hainer recalled. Since then, the women have found open doors at the club “over the years with Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, now with our CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, our board member for sport Max Eberl and myself. These women on the football pitch are absolute role models - far beyond the pitch. They show that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and stick to your path. They are an incredible inspiration – for all of us.”

FC Bayern driving development forward

FC Bayern is driving the development forward, Hainer explained with a few examples. The women's section is now managed as a separate directorate, and there is still a woman at the helm after Karin Danner in Bianca Rech. Looking at the club’s administrative advisory board, four of the 11 members (deputy chairwoman Alexandra Schörghuber, Dorothee Bär, Hildegard Müller and Dr Marion Kiechle) are women “who contribute a valuable perspective to our club”, said the president. Furthermore, deputy CEO Michael Diederich initiated the EmpowerHer mentoring programme, in which female players are prepared for careers after their playing careers by FC Bayern's partners. With OBACHT, there is an awareness concept for FCB venues such as the Allianz Arena or BMW Park - it is also implemented at the annual general meetings. “We are also campaigning with our women for issues such as breast cancer prevention,” explained Hainer. On Saturday evening, the Allianz Arena was lit up in pink for this reason, and FC Bayern has already had its stadium lit up in orange several times for the ‘Zonta says No’ campaign in order to raise awareness of the fact that violence against women is unacceptable.

Zonta present in over 63 countries

Zonta was founded in the USA in 1919; the name comes from the Sioux language and means ‘honest’ or ‘trustworthy’. Around 27,000 women are organised in over 63 countries, and the Zonta Club Munich was founded in 1952. “We are very happy that Herbert Hainer was our guest,” said Zonta area director Professor Dr Tawfik. “His speech and his participation in our panel discussion were an enrichment for our meeting.”

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