© Imago
Since the beginning of the year, Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder and then Munich’s new Mayor Dominik Krause have been guests at the historic Münchner Presseclub e.V. – and now FCB CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen stopped by for a roundtable discussion with about 60 journalists. The setting was stylish: from the premises above Marienplatz in the heart of the city on the Isar, there was a direct view of the Town Hall balcony – the spot where FC Bayern celebrate their title wins with fans.
During the discussion, Dreesen emphatically reaffirmed FC Bayern’s philosophy of never spending more money than it takes in: “The fixed-term deposit account is a metaphor – we want to remain independent. Self-determination is deeply rooted in this club’s DNA.” It’s becoming harder to compete with international rivals while maintaining this approach, the CEO admitted, because others can invest more and more, but the club never wants to be dependent on major investors. FC Bayern’s mission in everything the club does is “to offer our fans exciting football”. It’s not about “making as much money as possible, but about bringing joy to people”.
© Imago
Dreesen also put an end to the rumours regarding a potential transfer of Michael Olise to Real Madrid (“there was zero contact, of course he’s staying”) as well as those regarding Luis Diaz, who is also reported to have received offers. He praised the work of head coach Vincent Kompany (“with him the team is the star, not the coach”) as well as the youth development programme at the FC Bayern Campus led by Jochen Sauer, and discussed with those present why the German champions have been perceived for some time now as not as arrogant as they used to be. “When you say you always want to win, that has nothing to do with arrogance – it’s an attitude,” Dreesen said, “and in my opinion, that’s now widely recognised.” The CEO underlined the fact that FC Bayern are popular with an extremely large number of people – and growing – by citing the latest ticket requests for this season: “For our game at the Allianz Arena against Dortmund, we have 350,000 ticket applications, and for away games, the lowest demand is 60,000 tickets. We could fill any stadium with just our own fans alone.”
On the recent World Cup, Dreesen said he was in favour of the tournament with 48 teams, but regarding a possible expension to 64 countries he added: “You have to find a balance between quantity and quality.” Jürgen Klopp is a good choice as new Germany coach according to the CEO, who said with a grin: “Jürgen Klopp said he wants to pick up lots of wins – he’ll need lots of FC Bayern players for that.”
Regarding the new Women’s Bundesliga association’s consideration of possibly introducing play-off games, Dreesen said that no decision had yet been made on the matter. “Personally, I’m more of a traditionalist and believe that whoever is at the top at the end of the season deserves the title.” He viewed FC Bayern Women’s trip to Tokyo, Japan for the Allianz Women Tour last week as an important sign that this team can also reach people all over the world. Meanwhile, the next milestone for FCB Women is set for August 9, when a new era will be ushered in at Sportpark Unterhaching with a friendly match against FC Paris and an exciting programme of activies.
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