Michael Ott has once again voiced harsh criticism of FC Bayern’s club management. After the turbulent Annual General Meeting, the lawyer, who has been campaigning against the record champions‘ controversial sponsorship for years, defended himself against the attacks by President Herbert Hainer and CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen – and found clear words.
In an interview with Spox, Bayern member Ott explains why he thinks the new sponsorship with Emirates is a mistake and how the reactions of the club’s management have disappointed him. In a speech at the annual general meeting a week and a half ago, he criticised the fact that the airline from the United Arab Emirates is part of state structures involved in human rights violations in Sudan. „It must be made clear that there are also Bayern fans who do not accept such sponsorship without objection,“ says Ott: „The constant drip wears away the stone.“
But instead of approval, there were boos in the hall – and mockery. Dreesen greeted him smugly with the words: „Mr Ott, nice to see you again. I missed you last year. Maybe you were on vacation. Hopefully not on a plane trip.“ Ott countered: „It’s fundamentally unobjective to attack the messenger instead of the message. It distracts from the topic.“
Ott is particularly disappointed with President Herbert Hainer. „The President who was up for election and whom I specifically asked for his opinion didn’t dare to express his own opinion,“ he explains. Hainer and his Vice Presidents „hid behind Dreesen“. In addition, Dreesen „talked past my arguments and took refuge in bogus arguments that don’t even address the problem“.
One of the main arguments put forward by those responsible at Bayern was that the club could not resolve international conflicts. Ott counters: „Of course FC Bayern cannot resolve such conflicts. But it should not hinder the resolution of conflicts by giving these countries a clean image. That is something completely different.“ He also does not accept the argument that the money is needed to remain internationally competitive: „That is a sad admission that the ideals at FC Bayern are obviously for sale.“
Ott is disappointed with Bayern President Hainer
Finally, Hainer responded to the debate again at an event organized by the Münchner Abendzeitung newspaper – and accused Ott of primarily seeking his „own stage“. The lawyer is not prepared to accept this statement: „But I am surprised and disappointed by such cheap polemics from my club president. He is trying to silence me on the grounds that I am egocentric. That is a cheap trick.“
Ott defends himself against the insinuation that he wants attention: „Anyone who says something like that doesn’t seem to be able to imagine that someone can get involved out of idealism and without ulterior motives.“ He emphasizes that he consciously only comments on sponsorship topics: „I regularly get interview requests on all kinds of topics. I turn down such requests because I don’t want to force myself into the public eye as a general critic of FC Bayern.“
For him, it’s not about personal vanity, but about attitude: „I simply want my club to behave as correctly as possible. We’re not talking about the fly in the ointment here, but about the absolute minimum that you should be able to expect from any partner: respect for human rights.“
Ott’s conclusion is correspondingly sobering: „This shows me that there is still a lot to do at FC Bayern in the future.“