Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn remains coy on joining the DFL

Let’s get something straight — the DFB (Deutsche Fussball Bund) and DFL (Deutsche Fussball Liga) are two separate entities. After the resignation of DFL boss Donata Hopfen, there have been calls for someone from Bayern Munich, such as club CEO Oliver Kahn, to take a board position in the German league’s governing body.

This would obviously do nothing to dissuade conspiracy theories that Bayern run the DFL, but that was probably a lost cause anyway. Right now, the Bundesliga and German football faces a reckoning — the proliferation of money in the sport and the staggering rise of the EPL has left German clubs struggling to keep up. The decline of Germany as a footballing powerhouse on the international stage can also be traced back to the financial decline of the league compared to its peers in Europe.

Kahn, as the head of the most successful club in Germany, will have a key role in reversing that slide, no matter what position he takes. However, he was non-committal when asked about taking up a board position by Bild:

So will Bayern complete their Palpatine-esque takeover of German football? Or will it be left in the dust and scattered to the winds, as European football welcomes the new Super League that is the EPL? We’ll have to wait and see.