Zizou
Apr 10 2003, 07:43 AM
Bayern Munich have threatened to pull out of the Bundesliga and join the league in Italy if they are docked points for a controversial marketing deal, it emerged on Wednesday.
Club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said said the club would end their association with all bodies ruling the German game if they were handed a sanction they did not agree with.
"If there is a verdict that we cannot accept, the consequence would be that we would pull out of all bodies [ruling German soccer]," Rummenigge told Sport-Bild, a weekly magazine which comes out on a Wednesday.
Bayern are under investigation from the Deutsche Football League after admitting having received a top-up of 21.5m euros (£14.8m) through a secret marketing deal with the troubled KirchMedia group.
The ever understated Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern's former chairman and now the president of the club's supervisory board, went further, suggesting that Bayern would up sticks and join Serie A.
"The Bundesliga will have to see how they go without us," Beckenbauer said. "We'll join the league in Italy and play against Milan and Rome."
The club insisted no one was harmed by the marketing deal but the DFL has to rule whether the payment, on top of television cash passed on to all German professional clubs via the Bundesliga, contravened the principle of central marketing. A verdict is expected in the next few days.
The DFL is responsible for professional football in Germany and runs the top-flight Bundesliga as well as the second division. Central marketing, agreed by all clubs, ensures that all the professional clubs benefit from a share of the sum generated by television rights.
Bayern are 14 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga but Rummenigge said the club would not accept a points deduction, even if it meant Bayern still became champions. "We will not accept a points deduction," he said. "That's a question of principle."
Bayern's controversial contract with KirchMedia ended after the Bundesliga rights-holders went into administration with huge losses last year.
Club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said said the club would end their association with all bodies ruling the German game if they were handed a sanction they did not agree with.
"If there is a verdict that we cannot accept, the consequence would be that we would pull out of all bodies [ruling German soccer]," Rummenigge told Sport-Bild, a weekly magazine which comes out on a Wednesday.
Bayern are under investigation from the Deutsche Football League after admitting having received a top-up of 21.5m euros (£14.8m) through a secret marketing deal with the troubled KirchMedia group.
The ever understated Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern's former chairman and now the president of the club's supervisory board, went further, suggesting that Bayern would up sticks and join Serie A.
"The Bundesliga will have to see how they go without us," Beckenbauer said. "We'll join the league in Italy and play against Milan and Rome."
The club insisted no one was harmed by the marketing deal but the DFL has to rule whether the payment, on top of television cash passed on to all German professional clubs via the Bundesliga, contravened the principle of central marketing. A verdict is expected in the next few days.
The DFL is responsible for professional football in Germany and runs the top-flight Bundesliga as well as the second division. Central marketing, agreed by all clubs, ensures that all the professional clubs benefit from a share of the sum generated by television rights.
Bayern are 14 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga but Rummenigge said the club would not accept a points deduction, even if it meant Bayern still became champions. "We will not accept a points deduction," he said. "That's a question of principle."
Bayern's controversial contract with KirchMedia ended after the Bundesliga rights-holders went into administration with huge losses last year.