Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness on Sunday insisted there is no chance of burying the hatchet with club legend and his former friend Paul Breitner in their heated public feud.
“Paul Breitner has been made into a martyr, but Paul Breitner is not the victim – he’s the culprit,” Hoeness fumed on a visit to a Bayern fan club in Kersbach, near Nuremberg.
“The relationship can no longer be saved – he has crossed a line.”
Relations between the pair, who were part of West Germany’s 1974 World Cup winning team and were Bayern team-mates, soured sharply in October.
Breitner, 67, heavily criticised both Hoeness, 66, and Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for attacking the German press in a bizarre press conference on October 19 over criticism of the club following a series of bad results.
Hoeness was furious when Breitner, who made 343 appearances for Bayern and won the Bundesliga title five times, told Bavarian broadcaster BR that the Bayern president had “ruined the work that the club had done in the past few years to escape it’s arrogant image”.
As a result, Breitner’s access to the VIP area at Bayern home games was reportedly revoked, which Hoeness confirmed on Sunday.
“We suggested to him not to come to the VIP area because he has damaged Bayern in an unspeakable manner,” fumed Hoeness.
“If he has a problem with us, let him tell us to our faces – and not go through the press.”
During Bayern’s annual general meeting on Friday — when Hoeness was verbally attacked by several club members — he confirmed his friendship with Breitner is irretrievably broken.
“I broke things off with Paul Breitner when I came out of prison – and that was it for me,” added Hoeness, who was jailed from June 2014 until February 2016 for tax evasion.
Rummenigge said Breitner is persona non grata at Bayern since he “appeared on television verbally slaughtering Uli Hoeness – so I am afraid the line between them has been cut.”
