Abramovich 'oil mafia' who 'stinks to high
heaven'
Chelsea are the recipients of an astonishing attack from
Bayern Munich. The German champions accused Blues owner Roman
Abramovich of being part of an 'oil Mafia' and claimed his
methods of funding the Stamford Bridge club 'stink to high
heaven.'
And Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness lamented the way how
Chelsea's riches have helped them gatecrash the Champions League
elite, insisting he would relish the chance for his club to
defeat them.
Russian oligarch Abramovich has bankrolled the West London club
on an epic scale since his arrival five years ago. Since then
Chelsea have won two Premier League titles, and regularly
figured in the Champions League's last four - losing the final
against Manchester United last season.
By contrast Bayern, who won the European Cup three times
between 1974 and 1976 and again in 2001, have endured a barren
recent spell in Europe.
And 56-year-old Hoeness declared: 'Thanks to the huge
investments many clubs make, there are no longer any serial
European Cup winners similar to Ajax and Bayern in
the Seventies. 'The old hierarchy has been abolished. A
better-balanced competition sounds tempting, but I don't know
whether the investments have been good for football.
'I get annoyed every week when I go to fill my car up with
petrol. The oil Mafia is taking money out of my pocket to invest it
in footballers. 'To my mind this stinks to high heaven,
and this applies to Mr Abramovich among others. 'He is
certainly no friend of mine. This Mafia controls the
entire world, and manipulates the price of oil. I won't
stand for it any longer. 'What can we do? We simply have to
defeat teams like Chelsea on the field of play. 'That would give us
great satisfaction.'
Bayern are Germany's richest and most successful club, and are
once again expected to win several trophies this season. But
former Bayern and Germany striker Hoeness admitted: "It is
pointless for us to set ourselves major targets. 'We could reach
the quarter-finals in the Champions League, and then come up
against Barcelona, Real Madrid or Chelsea. 'Then all of a
sudden we're knocked out. The pressure on us now is higher
than ever.'
