Herbert Hainer delivers laudatory speech at Real Madrid

A very special first: Real Madrid invited Herbert Hainer to deliver the laudatory address to 1,300 graduates of a degree programme run by the club at the university in the Spanish capital - the first time the president of another club had been asked to do so. Previously, the ceremony on the pitch at the Bernabéu had featured speakers from the worlds of politics and business, and the respectful relationship between the two clubs and their leaders meant that the ceremony became yet another sign of the mutual appreciation between FC Bayern and Real Madrid. Hainer centred his speech on the concepts of identity and attitude. “Success opens doors – but it is your identity and attitude that determine the mark you leave behind,” he told the students: “Because in the end, people never remember just what you achieved. Above all, they remember what you stood for.”

In the presence of Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez and legends such as Emilio Butragueño, Hainer drew parallels between the two world-class clubs: At FC Bayern, “Mia san Mia” does not mean: “We are better than everyone else”. It means: “We know what we stand for.” And “Hala Madrid” is more than just a chant from the stands for Real Madrid: “It is the conviction never to stop believing in the next opportunity.” At first glance, these are just two short phrases, “but they answer a much more fundamental question than that of victory or defeat: ‘Who are we?’” The true strength of Bayern and Real does not lie in titles and trophies: “It lies in their identity and the attitude of the characters who bring them to life.”

Hainer referred to Santiago Bernabéu (“he gave Real Madrid a vision”), Cristiano Ronaldo (“more than just goals – the willingness to push himself further every day”), Franz Beckenbauer (“he shaped the club, led by example and had an impact far beyond sport”) and Thomas Müller (“doesn’t try to be someone else; his strength lies in remaining true to himself”) and concluded: “None of them ever wanted to be a copy of someone else. They know who they are. And perhaps that is precisely the most important message: the world doesn’t need a second edition of a successful person. It needs the very best version of yourself.”

On the subject of attitude, Hainer took the audience – comprising students from 108 different nations – beyond the realm of sport: “We live in a time when divisive forces are trying to weaken our democracies and drive Europe apart. That is precisely why we need a cohesive Europe – from Madrid to Munich.” When a player like Vinícius Júnior is subjected to hostility, “this is not just a problem for football: it is a problem for our society. Our coach, Vincent Kompany, said in this context that there must be far more room for dialogue than for exclusion.” This is a key message – “especially in this day and age, for your generation: Anyone who pits people against one another and divides them is going against everything that great communities stand for. And that is why I say this emphatically here on behalf of FC Bayern: beyond borders, in Spain as in Germany, the following applies: those who exclude others lose out – in sport as in life.” The speech was met with sustained applause from the students, along with their families from all over the world.