Bayern Munich chief reflects on the fall out of Super League
The last seven days have been monumental for European football as 12 top clubs decided to join a breakaway European Super League (ESL). After the backlash from fans, eight of them withdrew from the competitions on Tuesday. Bayern Munich steered clear of this mess as they were one of the very few top clubs deciding against joining ESL.
Along with Die Roten, all German clubs openly opposed the idea of the breakaway league. DFL also released a statement to insist that this idea is not going to benefit football in Europe. Eventually, the pressure from various governing bodies and fans lead to the downfall of the project.
Bayern has always been against the idea of playing in a separate breakaway league. The German champions have publicly insisted that the idea of the Super League doesn’t interest them. Rekordmeister stood to their words and decided to stick with the current form of Champions League.
Die Roten President Karl-Heinz Rummenigge will become a significant role in the European Clubs Association. While speaking to BamS this weekend (via iMiaSanMia), Rummenigge insisted that he would have tried to prevent the event if he had known about it before the announcement.
"“If I had found out something about it before, I would have tried with all my power to prevent the Super League, together with our friends from Dortmund and Paris, among others.”“FC Bayern is not available for such an event. We all have a clear stance here: You cannot separate yourself from the football family by organizing your own event at the expense of others.”"
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The closed nature of the Super League was always not going to appease all leagues in Europe. Since 12 or 15 clubs were guaranteed a spot in ESL every year, the competitive edge in domestic leagues would have suffered. Courtesy of this reason, it was as much important for leagues as it was for UEFA to see this idea collapse as soon as possible.
Rummenigge has also backed new reforms in the Champions League that will make the competition better. UEFA has decided to increase the number of teams in the competition, which will follow the Swiss model. However, the idea of having 36 teams in one season has got mixed reviews since it will increase the workload of players.
Die Roten did the right thing by not joining Super League. However, Rummenigge should now make sure that the format of the tournament should remain the same and doesn’t add more workload on already overworked players. For now, the Champions League will follow the previous format as reforms will come into effect from 2024/25.
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Rummenigge also expressed concerns over the rise in wages and salaries of players. He believes that football in Europe desperately needs a wage cap. The transfer fees and agent’s commission have also increased heavily in the last five years. If Rummenigge manages to convince UEFA to implement the idea of a wage cap, then competitions across Europe will become even fairer.