Unhappy Allianz in Munich

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has slammed city rivals 1860 Munich for considering moving their home games away from the Allianz Arena.

The second division side this week set up a task force to examine the possibility of moving out of the 69,000-capacity arena and into a smaller home in the city.

However, Rummenigge claims that by doing so they would be breaching a contract with Bayern to act as tenants in the stadium until 2025.

By moving back to the Olympic Stadium, or even to the smaller Grunwalder Stadion in the city, Rummenigge believes they stand to gain very little and lose a lot.

"I have got to say, quite honestly and openly, that it is like in any rental agreement - if the tenant wants to move out of the flat, or in this case the stadium, then there are damages to pay," Rummenigge told the city's Tz newspaper.

"If 1860 Munich think they can simply move out without any consequences, then they are very naive."

Bayern have already bailed out their city rivals once by buying their joint share in the stadium venture last year.

As a result, the Lions have to pay rent to remain at the Arena and Rummenigge claims he will not be making any compromises.

"We have already accommodated them in a big way and our willingness to talk is exhausted," he added.

"We learned about all this from the newspaper, which is also typical 1860 style.

"We are used to it."

Unless 1860 can return to the top flight of German football in the near future, they are facing serious financial problems.

They were relegated to the second division in 2005 and have struggled to bounce back. They are currently 11 points adrift of the promotion berths with nine games of the season remaining.

Source:
http://www.sportinglife.com

Archive