1860 Munich: The second fall. And why it was no accident.

Yesterday it became official. 2.7 million euros missing. No licence. 1860 Munich will play in the Regionalliga next season. For the second time in less than ten years.

Now everyone points at Hasan Ismaik. The Jordanian withheld the payment again. Just like 2017. Same film, different season.

But I remember Peter Grosser. Captain of the 1966 championship squad. After the first forced relegation he said it plainly: the club is the problem, not Ismaik. He sat five metres from the board for years. Offered his help. Nobody ever asked him. According to Grosser, everyone involved „only looked after their own wallet, not the club."

That is the real story.

Ismaik, money and control

Ismaik is difficult. He always was. He put in 80 million euros and withheld the licence money twice, each time when the club refused to meet his demands. In 2017 he wanted the registered association to implement structural changes. In 2026 the same demand, the same blockade. Ismaik holds 60 percent of the shares today, but under the 50+1 rule only 49 percent of the voting rights. He has the money but not the control. That was the construct from the beginning. And it never worked.

Did FC Bayern play a role?

Now to the question many are asking: did FC Bayern play a role in this? Yes, and it is fully documented. Hoeneß confirmed it himself, first in the BR documentary „Rise & Fall" and then to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Ismaik originally wanted to invest in FC Bayern. Hoeneß declined and redirected him to 1860. His own words:

Den Ismaik, also den Hamada, den hab' ja auch ich ihnen besorgt.

He kept silent about it for years because fans „pull down the shutters" when money is mentioned. That is not a conspiracy theory. That is documented strategy from a man who knew exactly what he was doing.

Whether the intention was to destabilise a city rival, I cannot say. I only state what is documented. And what is documented is this: FC Bayern directed a problematic investor to their city rival. Quietly and deliberately.

The same pattern: AFVD

There is an almost identical pattern that few people outside the community know: the American Football Verband Deutschland, the AFVD. For 25 years Robert Huber led the organisation. He was simultaneously president of the national federation and the Hessian state association. His company German Football Service GmbH held contracts with the AFVD, some running until 2033. Funding for clubs was almost non-existent. In 2018, players started a petition accusing the organisation of directing money to officials rather than the sport. In 2022, nine state associations filed a motion to remove him. Huber resigned and left the new board with deleted data storage, unusual account movements and contracts he is still litigating today.

Huber is gone. The new board has been dealing with legal proceedings from the previous leadership for over two years. The structures that enabled 25 years of concentrated power did not disappear with a resignation.

Why members cannot act

Now the core question. Why cannot the members of 1860 simply act?

Because the bylaws prevent it. Amending the statutes at TSV 1860 Munich requires a three-quarters majority of members, as German civil law in § 33 BGB generally prescribes. Ismaik has publicly criticised exactly this and demanded changes, including that the supervisory board propose multiple candidates for the presidency rather than a single predetermined one. The fan site Sechzger.de states this clearly: Ismaik does not want democratic reform. He wants a lever that lets him act without member oversight.

The paradox is brutal. The bylaws protect the club from Ismaik. At the same time the board blocks any substantive dialogue. And Ismaik has the money the club needs. The members sit in between and cannot do anything fast enough to raise 2.7 million euros in a matter of days.

The result was predictable.

The question everyone must answer

Now the question everyone should ask themselves.

Does 1860 actually want to become a second RB Leipzig? A Wolfsburg, a Leverkusen, a TSG Hoffenheim, where Red Bull, Volkswagen, a pharma billionaire or an energy company sets the tempo? Clubs that buy success but have no history that goes beyond money?

Hoffenheim is a Champions League participant today. On a spot that a village club without Dietmar Hopp would never have occupied.

Leipzig effectively circumvented the 50+1 rule with a membership fee of 800 euros per year. Membership requires a personal invitation from the board. That is not a club. That is a GmbH with a fan scarf.

Wolfsburg belongs to a car manufacturer. VfL exists because Volkswagen keeps it alive. Not because of its fans.

1860 Munich had a championship in 1966. No industrial financing. No corporation behind them. Players who came from the region. A club that knew who it was.

That is the difference. And that is the question every member, every board member and every fan must answer before the next investor knocks.

Do you want success through being bought? Or do you want a club that knows who it is, and plays in the Regionalliga for that if necessary?

Both are legitimate answers. But a choice has to be made.

A club that cannot answer that question will keep experiencing the same thing. Ismaik or someone else. The league does not matter. The system stays.

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Sources

Ismaik demands 2026: Sportschau (BR24, 03 June 2026), T-Online (03 June 2026)

Forced relegation confirmed: Kicker (03 June 2026), Sport1 (03 June 2026)

Hoeneß mediation: Süddeutsche Zeitung (May 2021), confirmed by Kicker, Spox, Sky Sport / BR documentary „Rise & Fall"

Grosser statement 2017: Goal.com

Voting rights / share structure: T-Online (2015), Sechzger.de (2025)

Bylaws / three-quarters majority: Sechzger.de fact check (February 2025), BGB § 33

AFVD Huber case: Wikipedia AFVD, AFVD.de, football-aktuell.de, touchdown24.de, football-austria.com, Wetterauer Zeitung (2020)

RB Leipzig 50+1 circumvention: widely documented by DFL and media