A kicker article from today: The Kirch-affair is the current cause for excitement about FC Bayern Munich. A further episode in a long tradition of the record champion. Not only their players are tricky: “We make use of the laws in an extreme way.” This sentence was said by Uli Hoeneß. But it is not a recent explanation for the current reproaches about the debated contract of FC Bayern with the meanwhile insolvent partner Kirch. This – with the current excitement very comparable – quote that was a self-characterisation not without pride about the business habits from 1992. It is related to another hot topic that caused nationwide trouble and split the nation into a group of sympathisers with Munich’s cleverness and a group that saw the borders of moral violated. As today. Back then it was about Thomas Helmer. His contract in Dortmund contained a clause that allowed him to leave after the season for 3 M [DM] to a foreign country. Helmer used this clause in time. Little later his true aim got obvious: Bayern Munich. But Dortmund’s GM Michael Meier strictly excluded a transfer within the league. So Helmer used his position and threatened with a short stop at AJ Auxerre if Dortmund does not negotiate with Bayern. While Rummenigge stressed to aim “a direct transfer”, Uli Hoeneß confessed to use the bypass. “Tasteless” cursed Michael Meier, but it happened what had to happen: Helmer went for 7.5 M [DM] directly to Bayern Munich. Without bypass. The gentlemen from Grünwald reached their aim. Not according to the habits, but who cares. The result was fitting, how it happened doesn’t interest anyone tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. This is what Munich’s officials also expect in the Kirch controversy. “When DFL dealt with that and the case is done, then everything will calm down”, says Hoeneß and doesn’t worry about the currently damaged image of FC Bayern. Because of the experience. Just remember 2001 when the dubious paying transfer between Bayern Munich and Sebastian Kehl as well as Sebastian Deisler got known. Who still cares today? [well, the taxation offices if they find out about cases in which they really did it, as this is tax evasion by the players. But probably you could do a trial against almost every player as the matter were simple pre-payments as signing bonus – of course this money has to be announced to the taxation offices as income, and you cannot declare it previously to being employed by the new club; in most cases they get the money earlier and the taxation offices don’t get to know] And the method is always the same: the first suspicion is denied or not commented, then all other clubs and critics are being insulted and only if the public excitement is getting a serious threat, then they play the matter down by admitting the incidents in a harmless way as the loan to Deisler/Kehl, extremely used laws with Helmer, as trifle or form mistake in the Kirch affair. Now, the management philosophy is miles away from being against the law. Maybe smart. And in this role they like themselves a lot. A bit faster, cleverer, more decided than the concurrence. Necessary for decades of sportive domination or result from it? Probably a bit of both aspects. It is a small degree between power and moral, between intelligence and impertinence. This also goes for the sportive sector, e.g. when the “department attack” is doing one of their amusing and arrogant verbal attacks. “I aimed on attacking Daum”, confessed Uli Hoeneß in 1999. “Not in 100 years Leverkusen will be ahead of Bayern”, said Hoeneß right before the top game by calculating that Daum would not do the counter attack but “put the team under pressure. After ten minutes four of his players were booked and we won 2:0 without any problems. In such moments”, says Hoeneß, “I find myself really good”. Examples like this are enough in Bayern’s history and also in this category you can put the aimed weakening of the rivals. In the past fifteen years Bayern bought 18 players from the direct rivals. Like Jürgen Kohler 1989 from Cologne, Bruno Labbadia 1991 from Kaiserslautern, Andreas Herzog 1995 from Bremen and lately Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto from Leverkusen. Surely Bayern has to buy good players from the top to keep the level. But this also has the much wanted effect to care for excitement in other clubs where they’d better concentrate on being calm. Bayern is cleverly using their powerful position. And by no means they are on a permanent ego trip. The likes of the soccer family is as well in their interest as their own. And so they act according to the motto “The small ones only are doing well if the big ones are doing well.” After all, many strings are held in Munich, where Franz Beckenbauer, DFB-Vice and WC-Mentor, Karlheinz Rummenigge, speaker of the elite organisation G14, have important functions under their control. There – never totally without own interest – initiatives are born and trends set. The separation of the league from the association, the quick increasing from three to five non EU foreigners, etc. Also the rolling stone that caused the avalanche in the Daum-cocain-affair was started in Munich. Finally also the league owes some part of the TV income to the instinct of the Bavarians. Despite of the additional Kirch millions. According to the motto: “for everyone a bit, for us the most, than the bill is right”. And to pull that through they sometimes have to show their muscles. Like before the season 1999/2000 when Bayern was threatening to forbid all TV cameras in the stadium as they wanted to sell the live rights for Pay TV themselves. “From June 1, 2000 on, we will do our own marketing”, predicted Hoeneß back then. Last Monday in Bavarian TV he said: “I never liked the idea of decentralised TV marketing.” That’s why also the Kirch contract “did not change my mind.” Still questions? Give everyone his part, give me the most – the current case is just a further and definitely not the last episode in the Bavarian club politics. Current news regarding this topic: In the matter Matthäus vs Bayern there is no end in sight. Matthäus feels badly treated by Hoeneß and Rummenigge, who indeed seemed to have changed from friend to enemy for him. Matthäus wants 500 K from his farewell game and wanted to clear the matter internally, but Hoeneß and Rummenigge went to the media and insulted Matthäus. That’s why he is not willing to compromise at the moment and checks a dirty lawsuit. Kirch affair, also from kicker: With every new statement Bayern Munich increases new needs for explanations. Rummenigge recently said: ”The crucial point was to show our games in pay per view.” The problem: also the never used pay per view rights are ruled in the centralised TV marketing. FC Bayern meanwhile hired lawyers with clearing the many open questions in this affair; DFL is still waiting for valid arguments from Munich, which are able to justify this contract.