20 years ago, the headlines rolled over backwards. Stefan Effenberg’s demand – “to reduce the unemployment benefit to a minimum” – had made waves. And when politics distanced itself from the Bayern star, the officials of the record champions had to act.
Stefan Effenberg was irritated. He had just met Franz Beckenbauer at the airport – and had already prepared for the worst. But the FC Bayern president showed understanding: “Basically you’re right. If you read it as a whole, you didn’t say anything wrong. Only you’re not allowed to say something like that.” What did Beckenbauer mean, the suspended, former national player pondered: “Wait a minute! I don’t understand that now. Basically I’m right, but I can’t say it. What kind of logic is that?”
The former team boss and “Kaiser” of German football knew exactly what Effenberg meant. Far too often it was he himself who was “fried” in the press because of dubious statements. But he had always managed to free himself from extremely delicate situations. Always according to the motto: What bothers me about my chatter from yesterday? But in this case he had a clear message for the Bayern professional: “You know: If you say something, every word is immediately weighed. You know the game.”
Just a few days earlier, the media avalanche had been set in motion, which finally overran Stefan Effenberg and FC Bayern. At first, however, everything had remained calm. “Playboy” was published on April 16, 2002 – and hardly anyone took notice of the interview that was to have such a lasting impact on the final stages of Effenberg’s career at Bayern Munich. But just one day later, nothing was the same as before. The big tabloid with the many pictures had a story with the headline “Effe demands: support down!” opened. In the interview, Effenberg explained that he had a “problem with people who make you lukewarm.”
Small injury removes last doubts
As he later said, he was explicitly referring to people who sat on what were then very popular afternoon talk shows and “told around that they really didn’t feel like working.” What nobody knew at the time: Effenberg’s brother was also unemployed when the interview appeared. But once the story got going, there was no room for those shades of black and white. Rather, the outrage at Effenberg’s statement had become so great that politicians also reacted.
Ben Redelings is a passionate “chronicler of football madness” and a supporter of the glorious VfL Bochum. The bestselling author and comedian lives in the Ruhr area and maintains his legendary anecdote treasure chest. for ntv.de he writes down the most exciting and funniest stories on Mondays and Saturdays. More information about Ben Redelings, his current dates and his book with the best columns (“Between Puff and Barcelona”) can be found on his page www.scudetto.de.
Unanimously, trade union bosses, Greens chairmen and also the chancellor candidate and incumbent Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber condemned the interview passage in question “strongly”. The time came when FC Bayern had to act themselves. And those responsible for the record champions decided to take Stefan Effenberg out of the game. First of all, only for the next game against Berlin Hertha – but everyone involved knew even then: The 31-year-old would not play another game for FC Bayern in his career.
The suspension was lifted before the last game of the season at the Olympic Stadium against Hansa Rostock, but as the club “didn’t really want me to play”, a minor injury helped everyone involved to get out of the embarrassing situation. But Effenberg, who always seemed so composed and cool on the outside, was anything but cold about the whole fuss about his person, as he later said: “Unfortunately, the excitement about the interview ruined my departure from Bayern.”
Hoeneß once made similar statements
And although some fans had hoped after Effenberg’s expulsion that the championship would still work out, Bayern had to settle for third place in the table. After all, the “living time bomb Effenberg” (“Sport-Bild”), despite all personal disappointments, stayed still until after the season finale.
This was also due to the fact that Uli Hoeneß had previously stated publicly that Effenberg was “not an outlaw” and that he would be given a “dignified farewell”. Whether the gold watch and the “warm handshake” actually gave the well-deserved Bayern star the feeling of having been given a proper farewell can at least be doubted.
And secretly Uli Hoeneß himself must have known exactly how Stefan Effenberg felt in his precarious situation. After all, it was just twelve years ago that the Bayern official was offended by the nationwide media with his fairly identical statements about the unemployed (“Half of them, I’m convinced, have no interest in working”). Now Stefan Effenberg had also experienced what it’s like to “get something on your head” for a statement.
