Bayern Munich’s Max Eberl calls FIFA investor plan “shameful and repulsive.”

Bayern Munich’s Max Eberl calls FIFA investor plan “shameful and repulsive.” Bayern Munich Board Member for Sport Max Eberl has delivered a furious response to FIFA’s controversial plan to open some of its commercial operations to private investors. Eberl spoke at an FCB press event initially intended to introduce new signing Nathaniel Brown to the media. Eberl fielded the second half of a two-part question, going off on quite the diatribe  FIFA intends to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise, a new subsidiary encompassing the commercial and event operations connected to competitions such as the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup. The governing body proposes selling minority, non-controlling interests while retaining authority over sporting and regulatory matters. Eberl is not the first prominent German footballing administrator to object. German footballing administrative heavyweight Hans-Joachim Watzke branded FIFA’s proposal an “absolute attack on football” and argued that the organization had crossed a line. Max Eberl’s anti-FIFA rant “I thought you might take a little longer to answer,” Eberl began (addressing Brown). “That way, I’d have a little more time to think about how to worm my way out of this jackpot without saying something that will generate headlines.” “Honestly, I find it shameful,” Eberl continued. “It’s shameful that we’re even talking about such ideas. As the fans will tell you, football doesn’t belong to us. It’s a game. As far as I’m concerned, FIFA is there to oversee the game, to establish its structure and rules, and to host World Cups.” “Right now, I get the feeling that FIFA is only there to make a profit,” Eberl went on. “It feels as though the only goal is to make money at every turn. As someone whose life has been shaped by football, I find this to be totally repulsive. I think it’s great that UEFA has convened a crisis summit to consider a boycott.” “I’m not a fan of boycotts,” Eberl concluded. “I prefer dialogue. But if it comes to that, I’d actually be in favor of us, as Europe, standing up strong and saying, ‘We’re not going along with that—that’s not our sport. That’s not what we want.’ I don’t know who’s feeding Mr. Infantino [these ideas], but it stinks to high heavens.” GGFN  |  Peter Weis