Christian Lell played for FC Bayern’s youth team and made the leap to the pros. He played a total of 98 times for the record-holding champions. Now he’s making headlines again.
Since retiring from professional soccer, Lell has drawn attention with a few controversial statements—and not always in a positive way. Now there’s renewed buzz surrounding the former pro.
Lell could be a topic of conversation in the current season of “Celebrity Big Brother,” in which he is participating. It’s quite possible that his time with Bayern will come up there as well.
Lell is no longer allowed to wear the Bayern jersey
But for now, he’s spoken out on Instagram and taken a shot at the Bayern bosses. The former Bayern player explained that he received instructions from the Munich club’s management this spring that he was no longer allowed to wear the jersey of his former favorite club.
But what happened? In September, Lell published his book “From Ego to Heart,” which details the period following his playing career. A time when drugs and self-loathing also dominated his life. Originally, Lell was pictured on the cover wearing a Bayern jersey . Now, however, he is shown wearing a white shirt—due to a cease-and-desist letter from FC Bayern.
The letter stated that the Bayern jersey had to be removed. “So that’s what we did,” said Lell, who also made a serious accusation in his video: “Bayern Munich has ostracized me!”
Although he had the jersey removed from the book cover, he sees no reason to comply with the restriction otherwise. “None of the people in charge at the club—the ones who are running around there now, who joined the club at some point and think they have a say—can stop me from having a Bayern Munich heart,” Lell explained.
The former pro went even further. He said he would exclude Honorary President Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, “but all the other clowns running around there don’t stand a chance of making me give up the crest I wear here in any way.”