Fired Kahn: “It was the worst day of my life”

Was almost released before the 34th matchday with the dramatic championship from Bayern: Oliver Kahn.

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“Oliver Kahn is no longer CEO of FC Bayern Munich AG.” With this opening sentence, FC Bayern Munich announced just a few minutes after the dramatic eleventh championship in a row that the boss and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic had already announced their end by kicker towards the end of the game.

These headline-making decisions were made in the run-up to this season’s finale at an extraordinary Supervisory Board meeting called at short notice.

The FCB message was garnished with a thank you from President Herbert Hainer: “The decision to separate from Oliver Kahn was anything but easy for the supervisory board. Nevertheless, due to the overall development, we came to the decision to fill the at the top of the board. We would like to thank Oliver Kahn for his commitment, his ideas and for everything we have achieved together. He will always be a great personality at FC Bayern.”

But how did Kahn himself feel about the decision against himself? And above all: why didn’t Kahn come to Cologne in the first place, unlike Salihamidzic, who celebrated the title on the field after a late goal by Jamal Musiala and Dortmund’s 2-2 win over Mainz?

Kahn’s trip to Cologne from Bavaria “prohibited”

At first it was said that the CEO had not come to the Rhineland due to illness. Influenza, according to the official reports.

However, Kahn also tweeted about the eleventh championship in a row. A tweet that the vice world champion from 2002 even changed in the meantime.

As a result, he was “banned” by FC Bayern from attending the last game of the season in Cologne. “I’m incredibly proud of you and this achievement! I’d like to celebrate with you,” tweeted Kahn, who was fired as CEO of Munich, to the team for the championship. “Unfortunately I can’t be with you today because I was banned by the club (originally it was just ‘because I was banned’; Anm. d. Red.). I’m looking forward to next season. We will not only be German champions for the 12th time! Let yourself be celebrated!”

Kahn follows suit

And later, in the course of the TV broadcast of the show “Sky90”, Kahn again criticized the club for excluding him from the championship celebration. “That was the worst day of my life, not being able to party with the boys.”

Kahn, who played in Munich between 1994 and 2008 as a “goalkeeper titan” – including eight-time champions and Champions League winners in 2001 – was appointed to the board of FC Bayern München AG on January 1, 2020. On July 1, 2021, the 53-year-old finally took over the position of CEO. During his time as a member of the board, FC Bayern won the Champions League, the European Supercup, the championship twice, the DFB Cup and the DFL Supercup. After Kahn took over as CEO from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the record champions won the league and the DFL Supercup twice each.

The Bayern season as a film? “It wasn’t boring”

The new Bayern boss will be Jan-Christian Dreesen, who, as a member of the DFL presidium, handed the injured captain Manuel Neuer a copy of the championship trophy at 5:41 p.m. (the original was housed in Dortmund). President Hainer wants to explain the background to the Supervisory Board’s decision against Kahn and Salihamidzic at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday in the course of a press conference that has been announced.

The team around coach Thomas Tuchel, who, according to his own statement, had been informed of the end of the two on Friday, the official end of Kahn/Salihamidzic was announced in the locker room immediately after the championship. To be more precise: When Hainer announced the separation of Kahn and Salihamidzic in the dressing room, “we were in the ecstasy of victory and maybe we all had a sip or two of the target water,” said Thomas Müller.

The 33-year-old regrets the departure of the two bosses, “but the club just had the feeling that they had to do something”. Müller didn’t want to sugarcoat the season either. “It was total chaos,” he said. “If it had been a film, a lot of people would definitely watch it and say: Well, it wasn’t boring.”