Kirch affair
A scandal in the German Bundesliga that was uncovered in 2003 is known as the Kirch affair .
FC Bayern Munich and the Kirch Group , the former corporate conglomerate of media entrepreneur Leo Kirch, were involved in this scandal . After the Kirch Group was broken up, it became known that it transferred an estimated 40 million marks to FC Bayern Munich for agreements excluding the other clubs , until it became insolvent in December 2002 and a cancellation agreement was drawn up. The agreements stipulated that FC Bayern Munich would refrain from lobbying against the central marketing of the television rights of the Bundesliga and would be compensated for it by the Kirch Group.
The argumentation of those responsible at FC Bayern came down to the fact that the central marketing deprived the club of possible higher television revenues that could be achieved with individual marketing. Those responsible for the association also saw a good chance to overturn central marketing by taking legal action. They waived this with this agreement, to the advantage of all parties involved, as they argued.
Initially, the DFL threatened harsh penalties that should go beyond fines. FC Bayern responded with boycott threats and other measures. In April 2003, FC Bayern voluntarily undertook to transfer an amount of three million euros to the DFL. Because of these incidents, those responsible at FC Bayern were referred to as lobbyists for the Kirch group. Even after the settlement, the DFL described the behavior of those responsible at FC Bayern as " morally reprehensible ".