Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer said today he would give up daily management control ofthe European champions when the club becomes a joint-stock company later this year.
Beckenbauer, a former player and twice coach of Germany's most successful side, said he would become supervisory board chairman after clubmembers vote before the end of the year to become a joint-stock company, on the way to a stock market listing later on.
"Naturally my influence will shrink," Beckenbauer wrote in a column in Bildnewspaper. "I am doing this so that Bayern Munich will become evenstronger . . . Professional soccer is moving on a different level. At first glance we will be more like a car company or a bank."
Beckenbauer said there would be a three-member executive board made up of Uli Hoeness, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Karl Hopfner. Beckenbauersaid he and Bayern vice-president Fritz Scherer would make up the the supervisory board, which would meet four times each year.
"Nevertheless I'll still have talks with Hoeness and Rummenigge, even if these are no longer called executive meetings," he said. "These informalexchanges of opinion are a part of our success."