Oliver Kahn, legendary goalkeeper of the German national soccer team and Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich, will join the Bavarian club in 2021 as their new CEO after Karl-Heinz Rummenigge retires, the team’s current CEO confirmed.
“Yes, I will stop. This is also a good time to hand over the baton to Oli Kahn. The plan is for Oli to succeed me. He should be trained by me. He has been a very important player in Bavaria, he has taken a second educational path and is already on the road in business. The board has already given the go-ahead and I trust Oli,” said the 63-year-old to Sky Sports.
Rummenigge has been in this position since 2002, helping the team achieve too much and walking through some of their darkest times with the club. His current contract will expire in two years and maybe he realized it’s finally time for some big changes.
Kahn will not take over unprepared. Rummenigge plans to have him work for the club in the next two years so they can have a better understanding of their former hero goalkeeper well as what he still needs.
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“It’s important that you build an incredible network. It used to be easier, now you jump in the water and you have to swim right away, the media world is very different. I think he will end up swimming very well, and I’ll hopefully go into that deserved retirement,” said Rummenigge.
Meanwhile, Kahn confirmed that he is in “good conversations” with Rummenigge and called it a “gigantic challenge” while speaking to German broadcaster ZDF.
The 49-year-old Kahn played for the Bavarian club between 1994 and 2008 and grew to become one of the world’s best goalkeepers in his 14-year career with Bayern Munich. He helped the team win eight Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokal championships and the UEFA Champions League trophy in 2001. Kahn was Best European Goalkeeper for four consecutive years between 1999 and 2002.
Niko Kovac, manager of Bayner Munich gives instructions in the game they won against Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena, April 6, 2019. /VCG Photo
Rummenigge also spoke about the club’s current manager Niko Kovac. Despite the Croatian manager leading Bayern Munich to a 5-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at home on Saturday, the team’s CEO criticised Kovac’s rotation policy and his defensive tactics. More importantly, he made it clear that Kovac is not untouchable.
“There are no job guarantees with us. For no one. Everyone who works for Bayern Munich has to deliver. Whoever can’t deal with pressure is at the wrong club,” said Rummenigge. (GGTN)
