Bayern make peace with DFB

The disagreement between FC Bayern München and the German Football Association (DFB) over a marketing deal was settled on Saturday when the Bavarian club agreed to pay €3m to end the dispute.

Sizeable donation
The 1. Bundesliga leaders proposed giving €2.5m to the DFB and a further €500,000 to charity, and German football's ruling body accepted the offer. "The decision in this unique case was not easy to make but we wanted to avoid a legal confrontation that could have had a negative impact on the entire league," DFB executive Wilfried Straub said.

Secret deal
The dispute arose in February when Bayern confirmed a newspaper report that they had received €21.5m through a secret marketing deal with KirchMedia group.

Central marketing
The DFB launched an investigation to determine whether the payment, on top of television money passed on to all German professional clubs via the 1. Bundesliga, contravened the principle of central marketing, which ensures that all the clubs benefit from a share of the funds generated by television rights.

'Solidarity principle'
"The DFB's view is that Bayern München has harmed the solidarity principle ruling the Bundesliga by not respecting its arrangements and has therefore breached the fairness which is indispensable to sport," the ruling body said in a statement.

Financial difficulties
Bayern's contract with KirchMedia was rescinded after the media group, which held the broadcast rights for the Bundesliga, went into administration last year, leaving a number of clubs facing financial problems.

Rummenigge threat
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had said that the club would not accept a points deduction as punishment, while Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern's former chairman and now president of the club's supervisory board, also claimed that Bayern would refuse a fine and suggested they could leave the Bundesliga to join Serie A. The DFB has made it clear it will take no further action against Bayern.