Hoeneß holds politicians accountable and names his greatest nightmare - Uli Hoeneß slams Germany's policies and hints at Swiss relocation
Uli Hoeneß has not even ruled out leaving Germany entirely. In a sweeping political critique, he has sharply attacked both the far-right AfD and the former government, while reserving high praise for the current chancellor.
In a blunt political assessment, the 74-year-old honorary president of FC Bayern Munich called for harder work in Germany and revealed his greatest nightmare—even hinting, under certain circumstances, that he might relocate abroad. When asked in the second part of his interview with Bild whether his worst fear would be living in a country governed by the AfD, Hoeneß replied: "Yes. My family and I have had an apartment in Switzerland for nearly 50 years—that could potentially be an alternative for us."
Criticism of Scholz and Baerbock
Hoeneß also used the interview to launch scathing criticism at Germany's previous government and the Verdi trade union, while singling out current Chancellor Friedrich Merz for praise. The CDU leader, he argued, had succeeded in reversing "Germany's disastrous international image of the past four years." Thanks to Merz, Hoeneß said, Germany was once again asserting itself as a leader in Europe and demonstrating responsibility—"something he powerfully underscored with his impressive speech at the Munich Security Conference."
He also welcomed the fact that it was now Merz, not Olaf Scholz, sitting alongside Donald Trump and JD Vance in the White House during the U.S. president's visits. Turning to former Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens, Hoeneß sharply dismissed her calls for a boycott of this summer's FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. "To me, that's just symbolic political nonsense," he declared.
For Hoeneß, it was telling "that Ms. Baerbock was among the first—just as she was with Qatar—to drag sports into issues it simply cannot resolve." The current president of the UN General Assembly had told broadcaster ntv on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos: "Whether it's international politics, the economy, or sports, if there isn't a basic set of rules that everyone follows, then a World Cup simply won't work."
Baerbock later rejected a boycott
Shortly afterward, however, Baerbock explicitly ruled out a boycott in an interview with Germany's Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: "That would also unfairly penalize Canada and Mexico, which are co-hosts." She added that she fundamentally opposed "using athletes as pawns in political debates when they've spent years training for a championship."
In the same interview, Hoeneß also expressed bewilderment at the Verdi union's demands. "The unions and employers have just reached an agreement in the public sector wage dispute. I fully support higher pay for workers," he said. "But it is not acceptable that Verdi pushed to cut the workweek from 38 to 35 hours. The solution for Germany isn't to work less—it's to work more! Our society certainly won't thrive if a few union officials keep floating these absurd ideas." He left no doubt: "We Germans must work harder."
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