Rummenigge: Bayern may quit G-14

FCBayernNews · News fetcher Joined: 31 Aug 2006 Posts: 1328 votes: 2

27.11.2006

G-14 founder members Bayern are close to pulling out of the association of leading European football clubs, chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told respected football weekly kicker in an interview published on Monday. The former world-class striker questioned whether the 18-club grouping "still makes sense," choosing instead to praise international governing bodies UEFA and FIFA which have been at loggerheads with the G-14 for years.

"I have to ask questions about the future of the G-14. We are seriously considering whether it makes any sense to stay in the G-14," Rummenigge was quoted as saying. The organisation's collective goals had been obscured by "pure selfishness," he complained. "Every club in the G-14 only looks out for itself. The clubs have very little in common."

Playing field must be levelled

The game was in "a very precarious situation," Rummenigge continued, as super-rich owners such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea had made a nonsense of the idea of a fair sporting contest. Werder Bremen's impressive progress in a Champions League group against Chelsea and holders Barcelona had been "a miracle."

"And if Bremen make it past Barcelona, it will be the eighth wonder of the world," the Munich chief wryly observed, "I don't think we'll see a Bundesliga club in the final of a European competition for the next ten years."

Rummenigge calls for salary cap

Rummenigge renewed his demand for a salary cap at clubs throughout Europe, and called on the European Union (EU) "to stop these excesses perpetrated by Abramovich." He recommended intervention by continental governing body UEFA, "where they've recognised they game is no longer a proper competition," and suggested liaising with FIFA President Sepp Blatter, a man Rummenigge has sharply criticised in the past.

The G-14 was officially established six years ago following a series of informal meetings in the early 1990s between an initial group of eight clubs, including Bayern. The group currently comprises 18 clubs, among them the Bavarians' Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen.