Top facts about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, King Kalle

(born September 25, 1955 in Lippstadt) is a German soccer president and former player.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s age

is 66.

An important fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is that he was a professional footballer who played as a striker for

, Inter Milan, and Servette Geneva.

Rummenigge was regarded as one of the world's best players in the 1980s. He won the European Championship with the German national team in 1980 and, as captain, led them to World Cup finals in 1982 and 1986, as well as the European Championship in 1984.

The 1981 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was awarded to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on 29 December 1981. This was his second win in succession.

From 1991 to 2002, he was vice president of FC Bayern München AG, and from 2002 to 2021, he was chairman of the board. From 2008 to 2017, he was also President of the European Club Association. Since April 2021, he has served on the UEFA Executive Committee.

Top facts about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge:

Rummenigge had his greatest professional success as a player when playing at Bayern Munich, where he also won two league championships, two domestic cups, the Intercontinental Cup, and two European Cups. Additionally, he received two awards for European Footballer of the Year.

Rummenigge, a player for West Germany, helped his side to second-place finishes in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and the 1986 World Cup. He also helped his country to the 1980 European Championship.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge early life

Regarding

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s parents

, it should be mentioned that his father was involved with Borussia Lippstadt and passed on his passion for football to his sons Wolfgang, Karl-Heinz, and Michael. Karl-Heinz and Michael joined Borussia Dortmund and received youth football support.

Speaking about

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s childhood

, it is worth mentioning that he first drew attention in a youth game when he scored 16 goals in a 32-0 victory.

Despite being regarded as a great talent from a young age, he was only selected for the Westphalian team rather than a national youth team.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge personal life

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is a married man with five children. Michael and Wolfgang, his brothers, were also professional footballers. Marco played for SV Waldhof Mannheim until the summer of 2010 and made three appearances for the German U-19 national team.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was portrayed by the Bayerischer Rundfunk in the documentary "At the end of the day."

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge professional career

An important fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is that he presided over the European Club Association in that position from 2008 to 2017. North Rhine-Lippstadt Westphalia's is where Rummenigge was born.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge club playing career

An important fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is that he accepted an offer from German champions FC Bayern Munich in 1974. The 18-year-old quit his job as a bank clerk and relocated from Lippstadt to Bayern for a monthly salary of 8,000 DM.

Bayern Munich

Their star,

, was unimpressed with the new acquisition, saying, "There will never be anyone." But Rummenigge, who was considered shy at the time and was frequently mocked as having "red cheeks," triumphed under coach Udo Lattek.

In his first season, he played 21 Bundesliga matches and scored five goals, finishing tenth with his club. Rummenigge was used until the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1975, when Bayern won it.

Rummenigge earned a regular spot on the Munich offensive the following season, and he and his teammates successfully defended their European Cup title in 1976, defeating AS Saint-Étienne 1-0.

In the 1976 World Cup matches, Bayern defeated Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte. Rummenigge's third title in Bayern uniform.

Rummenigge served in the Heavy Engineer Training Battalion 210 in Munich during his early days at Bayern Munich.

Rummenigge became a regular after that and successfully supported striker Gerd Müller in attack. Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer, and Gerd Müller left the team at the end of the 1970s, leaving a large void at Bayern.

In the Bundesliga, the club finished seventh in 1977 and twelfth in 1978. Meanwhile, Rummenigge continued to grow as a footballer and as a person under coaches Dettmar Cramer and, later, Gyula Lóránt, and was quickly recognized as a team leader.

In 1978, Paul Breitner returned to Bayern Munich, where he got along well with winger Rummenigge and set up good scenes for him with long passes.

After six years, Bayern won the German championship again in 1980, with Rummenigge leading the way with 26 goals. He was named Germany's footballer of the year and received the Ballon d'Or as "Europe's footballer of the year" at the end of the season.

Bayern defended their title in 1981, scoring 29 goals. Rummenigge set a personal best and reclaimed the top scoring position this season.

At the height of his powers, he was named Europe's footballer of the year for the second time and was regarded as one of the best players in the world in the early 1980s. Bayern Munich reached the European Cup final in 1982, losing 1-0 to Aston Villa.

An important

fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

is that he squandered a number of high-quality chances in this game. More national titles followed, including two DFB Cup victories in 1982 and 1984, and Rummenigge was named top scorer for the third time in 1984, with 26 goals.

He played for Bayern Munich with his younger brother Michael Rummenigge from 1981 to 1984. Rummenigge scored 162 goals in 310 Bundesliga games, placing him third in the Bundesliga behind Gerd Müller and

. In 64 European games, he scored 30 goals for his team.

Inter

Rummenigge left FC Bayern in 1984 for the Italian club Inter Milan, who paid an estimated ten to eleven million marks. At the time, this was the world's second-highest transfer fee, only surpassed by Diego Maradona's move from FC Barcelona to SSC Naples the same year for 24 million marks.

The expectations of Rummenigge in Italy were high, not least because of the enormous transfer fee, should he lead the team to the championship again.

However, he was no longer able to perform at his peak; despite scoring 24 goals in 64 games, his time in Serie A was marred by numerous injuries. He never won a title with Inter.

Geneva

After three years in Italy, he joined Servette Geneva in Switzerland in 1987. He finished his career here, where he was the top scorer in the National League A in 1989, with 24 goals. He retired from playing at the age of 33 in the summer of 1989.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge international career

An important fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is that he made his national team debut on September 2, 1975, with the B selection, winning 2-0 against Austria in Augsburg. He made his senior debut against Wales on October 6, 1976.

Helmut Schön, the national coach at the time, nominated the young winger for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Rummenigge had to make way for Schalke's Rüdiger Abramczik in the first game.

Rummenigge was used in the second game against Mexico and scored two goals while playing in the root formation.

He scored a third goal in the game against Austria, which became known as the "Disgrace of Córdoba" in German football history; Germany was eliminated from the tournament after a 2-3 defeat.

He won the European championship with the Italian national team in 1980. He scored one goal and set up the winning goal for strike partner Horst Hrubesch in the final with a corner kick to make it 2-1.

Following his personal year of success – he had previously become German champion and top scorer in the Bundesliga with FC Bayern – he asserted himself as a key player in the national team. Jupp Derwall, Schön's successor, appointed him team captain in 1981.

Rummenigge had a strong tournament as the new captain at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, scoring five goals, including a hat-trick in the 4-1 group stage win over Chile.

He competed in his third World Cup in Mexico in 1986, under team manager Franz Beckenbauer, with whom he had previously played at Bayern Munich.

Rummenigge was hampered from the start by injuries, did not arrive in the finals in top form, and only played two full-length games. Germany reached the final for the fourth time in four years, this time against Argentina.

After Germany fell behind 0:2, Rummenigge scored the equalizer in the 74th minute, followed by Rudi Völler's 2:2 a few minutes later.

However, the South Americans won 3:2 thanks to

. Rummenigge resigned as team captain following the final, bringing his DFB career to an end after 95 international appearances and 45 goals.

An important

fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

is that he was captain of the DFB-Elf 51 times and record captain from June 29, 1986 to December 18, 1993, before he was outbid by Lothar Matthäus.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge presidential career

Rummenigge worked for ARD as a co-commentator for international matches from 1990 to 1994. In 1990, he also launched the No Power to Drugs campaign.

After Jupp Heynckes was fired as coach in the fall of 1991, then-FC Bayern president Fritz Scherer decided to re-appoint former players Rummenigge and Beckenbauer as vice-presidents.

On November 25, 1991, the General Assembly formally completed this step. Rummenigge remained FC Bayern's Vice President until 2002.

On February 14, 2002, he was finally appointed CEO as part of the conversion of FC Bayern Munich's football department into an AG; he will resign at the end of June 2021. FC Bayern won the treble in 2013 and the sextuple in 2020 under his leadership.

During his tenure as CEO, the club won 14 championships, 10 DFB Cups, and two Champions Leagues. Rummenigge left the club after the 2020/21 season and handed over the chairmanship to Oliver Kahn.

Rummenigge became the first chairman of the European Club Association (ECA) on January 21, 2008, a position he held until September 4, 2017. Rummenigge was later named honorary chairman of the ECA. Since April 2021, he has served on the UEFA Executive Committee.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Bayern and Germany legacy

An important fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is that he went to Munich in 1974 from his hometown of Lippstadt, which is an hour east of Dortmund. At the time, he had no idea how successful the move would turn out to be.

He twice both won the Bundesliga and the European Cup as a gifted attacking player for Bayern. The team has won the DFB Cup ten times, the treble twice, and 14 Bundesliga championships since he took over as CEO in 2002.

They even won an extraordinary sextuple of trophies at the end of his tenure. However, it just conveys a portion of the tale.

Toolmaker Rummenigge's father was an enthusiastic member of the neighborhood amateur team Borussia Lippstadt. Rummenigge joined Bayern in July 1974 from there, where he initially drew the attention of coaches with his quickness and prodigious goal scoring at the juvenile level.

Bayern paid a pittance, but it was money well spent since ten years later, the record German champions would sell him to Inter Milan for more than 600 times that amount.

The former banking apprentice, however, first needed some time to assert himself. That made sense because the club he had joined was the current holder of the German and European championships and had eight members of the starting XI from the team that had won the FIFA World Cup that summer.

Franz Beckenbauer and Uli Hoeneß were two of them; for years to come, Rummenigge would collaborate closely with both of them on and off the field.

An important fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is that he had a productive debut season, scoring five goals in 21 Bundesliga games and gaining European Cup experience despite not being utilized in the final, which Bayern won 2-0 against Leeds United.

However, he started the championship match the year after, scoring 13 goals in all competitions and assisting the Bavarians in winning the title for the third year in a row with a 1-0 victory over Saint-Etienne in May 1976.

As players like Beckenbauer, Hoeneß, goalkeeper Sepp Maier, and Bundesliga scoring record holder Gerd Müller got older, moved on, or retired, Bayern's undisputed supremacy came to an end, but Rummenigge's fame was rising.

In 1979–80 (26 goals) and 1980–81 (29 goals), he was the league's top scorer, and both seasons, his side won the German championship.

Due to his versatility, the attacker was awarded European Football of the Year in 1980 and 1981, following in the footsteps of Beckenbauer, a fellow Bayern icon who had earned the honor twice in the 1970s.

At the international level, he also won a European championship after helping West Germany defeat Belgium 2-1 in the 1980 UEFA Euro final.

In 1981, his younger brother Michael moved with him to Bayern, and Rummenigge kept up his impressive play.

West Germany finished as runners-up to Italy in the 1982 FIFA World Cup while he was captain at the age of 26. He scored five goals in the competition, including a hat-trick against Chile.

Rummenigge said in 2010 that, had he been playing today, he may very well have been earning a comparable salary to Cristiano Ronaldo. Rummenigge was strong with both feet, a good dribbler, and capable of playing as a wide attacker or through the centre.

When asked how much he would be worth today, he said to Wirtschaftswoche, "In my greatest days I was European Footballer of the Year, the top scorer in the league, and captain of my national team - thus I would have been one of the top five players in the world."

Rummenigge thought it was time for a fresh adventure after winning his second DFB Cup title and becoming the Bundesliga's top scorer for the third time in his career (26 goals in 1983/84). More goals were scored with West Germany and Inter in Serie A.

They barely lost to Argentina in the 1986 World Cup final under the leadership of Beckenbauer as head coach and Rummenigge as captain.

Rummenigge, who had an ailment going into the competition, announced his retirement from international football after Argentina, who were motivated by the late, great Diego Maradona, defeated them 3-2.

In 51 of his 95 games as captain, he also scored the 45th and last goal of his international career.

Later in his playing career, injuries severely limited Rummenigge, who completed it with Servette in Geneva as he approached his 34th birthday. As expected, the veteran finished first in the 1988–89 Swiss scoring standings.

An important fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is that he would soon make his way back to the team for whom he had scored 217 goals in 422 appearances across all competitions.

Hoeneß, who had taken over as the club's general manager at the age of 27, appealed to two of his old colleagues for assistance as Bayern was experiencing an extremely tough season. In November 1991, Rummenigge and Beckenbauer were chosen to serve as Bayern's vice presidents because they had knowledge with how things were done in other nations.

Bayern missed out on the wealth that TV broadcasting was beginning to bring to clubs who qualified for European play by finishing 10th in the 1991–1992 season.

Over the next several years, both the team's play and transfer business were hit-and-miss, necessitating Beckenbauer's return to the bench to guide them to victories in the 1993–1994 Bundesliga and 1995–1996 UEFA Cup.

Between 1990 and 1997, the Bavarians won the German championship only twice, and it wasn't until they hired Ottmar Hitzfeld, who had previously guided Borussia Dortmund to UEFA Champions League success, that they started to regain their former dominance.

Between 1998 and 2001, they won three straight Bundesliga championships, and in 2001, they won the Champions League for a record-tying fourth time.

Bayern needed some time to adjust to the way contemporary football teams operated, but Rummenigge said that he, Beckenbauer, and Hoeneß had toiled "like crazy" and "lived football day and night" to make it happen.

This includes trips to Amsterdam to study the famed Ajax academy and Manchester to learn about sponsorship.

When Bayern defeated Valencia on penalties in Milan for the 2001 Champions League title, with their CEO successor Kahn in net, it would have been intriguing to overhear their chats.

Following the game, discussions undoubtedly centered on Rummenigge's future as well as how to retain Bayern at the top of the German tree.

When the men's team was separated into a separate corporation in February 2002, he took over as CEO and assisted in managing Bayern's relocation from the Olympiastadion to the cutting-edge Allianz Arena.

Their new stadium, which can house 75,000 people for Bundesliga matches, was constructed at a cost of €340 million and inaugurated in 2005.

Before the decade came to a conclusion, Bayern would lose the championship to VfB Stuttgart and Wolfsburg. Then, between 2010 and 2012, they were defeated twice by an exciting Dortmund team captained by Jürgen Klopp.

However, they quickly fired back. Before completing the treble in 2012/13, the all-time German champions finished second in the Champions League in both 2009/10 and 2011/12.

Rummenigge said during the club's annual general meeting in November 2015, "For a few years now, we've maybe been in the finest period in FC Bayern's 115-year existence."

The club has kept up its winning ways while playing under coaches like Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola. In 2019–20 under the leadership of Hansi Flick, they repeated as treble winners before going on to win an incredible six consecutive major championships.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge best signings for Bayern

With the addition of another league championship in 2020–2021, Bayern won the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, Bundesliga, and DFB Cup a stunning 24 times in all during the 20 years Rummenigge served as CEO.

The third-highest striker in Bayern's history was significantly engaged during that period, and the team made some spectacular acquisitions. The departing board member noticed two in particular.

Rummenigge said that the hiring of "seminal coach" Louis van Gaal in 2009 was a significant event shortly before Bayern won the league for a record-extending ninth consecutive season in 2021. However, he said that signing Germany goalkeeper

and global player of the year Robert Lewandowski were his two finest player acquisition choices.

2011 saw the arrival of 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Neuer from Schalke, and three years later, on a free transfer from Dortmund, Polish sensation Lewandowski joined.

Rummenigge told The Athletic, "We had the world's finest goalkeeper and the world's best center-forward - that has been the cornerstone of our success in the previous six, seven years."

Rummenigge's tenure has also virtually ensured Bayern's future success. In August 2017, the FC Bayern Campus, where the six-time European champions monitor the development of its young players, was opened. The eye-catching complex, which covers 30 hectares and cost €70 million, includes housing quarters and numerous pitches with undersoil heating.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and 50+1

Only the top tier of football teams avoided being severely impacted by the financial issues brought on by the coronavirus epidemic. The absence of gate receipts, television revenue, and matchday hospitality was financially devastating for non-elite clubs.

Even Bayern Munich, which has experienced its own share of financial losses due to Germany having some of the strictest and longest COVID restrictions in Europe, is still doing everything it can to cautiously balance its books during a difficult period of negotiating contracts for key members of the squad.

In a recent episode of the TOMorrow - the Business & Style Podcast, former CEO of Bayern Munich Karl-Heinz Rummenigge advocated for the elimination of the 50+1 rule in the Bundesliga and more stringent financial fair play regulations for European teams (Sport1).

He believes that the sport as a whole is not yet prepared to cope with the problems at hand due to the widening financial gaps between Europe's most top clubs and everyone else. "The main issue with football is that it isn't ready to make any inferences from these things.”

“While other industries, like tourism, have already felt the effects of this (COVID), I don't believe football is prepared. Any sector that ramps up expenditures during a crisis would ultimately have to foot the tab, he passionately stated. Salaries are still growing, transfer fees are still rising.”

Rummenigge said that the time is now for regulating organizations like FIFA and UEFA to establish harsher standards for clubs to follow before the issues worsen and widen the economic gap between the best clubs and everyone else.

He believes that more reforms are needed and that even UEFA's financial fair play regulations have not been sufficient to keep top clubs accountable.

Rummenigge believes that Germany's 50+1 regulation, which was put in place to shield teams from the financial sway of outside investors, is a "handicap" in terms of the DFL's ability to compete with other European leagues.

"50+1 is a very, very large handicap in Germany. The fan groups, at least the extremist groups, really want this. How long can we afford to prioritize tradition above competition is the key issue that has to be asked here in the Bundesliga,” he remarked.

Since at least 50% of the shares in each team are held by club members, the 50+1 regulation contributes to the Bundesliga's wonderful ethos of clubs being run for and by their supporters.

Football fans all across the world used the Bundesliga's 50+1 rule as a benchmark for what football teams should be and the anti-commercialization principles it upholds in the aftermath of the projected European Super League.

Of course, businesses like SAP and the Red Bull soft drink company have figured out ways to get around the 50+1 rule, but Rummenigge believes there is a way to alter the rule so as to maintain its fundamental principles while also enhancing the Bundesliga's competitiveness on the international stage.

Some more facts about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge:

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was transferred from the Westphalian amateur team Borussia Lippstadt to Bayern Munich in 1974 for an estimated €10,000 transfer fee.

He started off dribbling with considerable power. His scoring abilities weren't very good at first, but they significantly improved in subsequent years, especially when coach Pal Csernai joined the team in 1979.

He first held the title of top striker in the Bundesliga in 1979–80 with 26 goals, a feat he repeated in 1981 and 1984 with 29 and 26 goals, respectively.

He won the European Cup with Bayern in 1975 and 1976. In 1975, he did not take part in the final of the championship, whereas in the year afterwards a glass of brandy adequately prepared the apprehensive Rummenigge to contribute to the defeat of AS Saint-Étienne.

He joined the club that won the Intercontinental Cup finals against Cruzeiro EC from Belo Horizonte in the same year.

In the period of coach Csernai he discovered in midfielder Paul Breitner a suitable companion and he made such a fearsome one-two-punch that they were only dubbed Breitnigge (name invented by German newspaper Bild).

The team, previously often referred to as "FC Breitnigge," won the DFB-Pokal in 1982 and 1984 in addition to the Bundesliga championship in 1980 and 1981.

The club's close loss to Aston Villa in the 1982 European Cup final prevented a repeat victory. Rummenigge led all scorers in this tournament the season prior with six goals.

His significant contribution to the club's and the German national football team's accomplishments was recognized personally as well. He was awarded the German and European Footballers of the Year in 1980 and 1980–81, respectively.

He was traded to Inter Milan in 1984 at the age of 29 for a record sum of €5.7 million. Rumenigge's career in Italy was mostly ruined by injury issues, despite a promising beginning in which he helped the squad contend till the end for the 1984–85 Scudetto.

At the conclusion of his contract in 1987, Rummenigge went on to Swiss first division team Servette FC in Geneva, where he saw his career out. He had his last triumph in his final season, 1988–1989, when he finished with 24 goals to lead the Swiss league.

An important fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is that he competed in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, the 1982 World Cup in Spain, and the 1986 World Cup in Mexico with the West German national team.

West Germany left the competition at the second group stage in 1978. The group came in second place behind Argentina and Italy in 1982 and 1986. Additionally, Rummenigge competed in two European Championship competitions.

West Germany won the tournament in Italy in 1980 by defeating Belgium 2-1 in the championship match.

Rummenigge earned 95 appearances for West Germany between 1976 and 1986, scoring 45 goals, including one in extra time to beat

in the 1982 World Cup semifinal and another in the 1986 World Cup final defeat to Argentina. In a 1982 World Cup group stage match against Chile, he also scored a hat-trick.

Rummenigge, one of the most gifted offensive players of his time, was often praised for being a very flexible front who could play as a second striker, winger, or straight-up center forward.

His speed, dribbling, heading, and ability to score goals from close range and outside the penalty box were his key assets. He also liked to capitalize on uncomfortable circumstances.

Rummenigge was also acclaimed for his both-footedness, leadership and physical strength. Injury, particularly after his transfer to Inter Milan, had a significant impact on his latter career.

Bayern Munich sent vice president invitations to Franz Beckenbauer and Rummenigge in the fall of 1991. Rummenigge held this position up until February 2002, when he was named Chairman of the Executive Board of FC Bayern München AG, the club's newly corporatized football division.

The club claims that in his capacity as chairman, he is in charge of board affairs, new media, external relations, and representing the holding company before domestic and foreign agencies.

Bayern Munich was able to relocate to the Allianz Arena under his leadership.

will start serving as CEO of Bayern Munich on July 1 of 2021, it was announced on June 1, 2021.

In their song "Rummenigge," the British pop group Alan & Denise paid homage to him by singing about his "beautiful knees" in April 1983. The song was 43rd in the German charts.

An important

fact about Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

is that he served as a TV co-commentator for German national team games from 1990 to 1994. He was included on Pelé's list of the best 125 players still playing today in March 2004.

A notable football player was also his brother, Michael Rummenigge. From 1982 to 1988 and 1988 to 1994, he played forward for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, respectively. Between 1983 and 1986, he also had two opportunities to represent Germany.

Between 1980 and 1991, Rummenigge and his wife Martina gave birth to three boys and two girls. Rummenigge is in favor of abolishing the 50+1 rule.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge social media

Regarding

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge social media

, it should be mentioned that he does not have any pages on any social media platforms.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge body measurements

Speaking about

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the former player is 182cm and 79kg.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge net worth and salary

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's net worth

is estimated to be around $30 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.

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