Former Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn claims FFP rules need to be made stricter

Bayern Munich director and former Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn has called on UEFA to strengthen Financial Fair Play in the wake of Manchester City's victory at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Bayern, as a traditional European power, are often viewed as one of the prime supporters of Financial Fair Play and Kahn insisted that the failure of UEFA's Club Financial Panel to uphold its two-year ban against City for allegedly bolstering their accounts with money from Abu Dhabi should not mean the end of regulation, but that UEFA should now take it more seriously to rein in spending.

Kahn, who won the Champions League with Bayern in 2001, implied that if UEFA didn't toughen the rules, they may as well abandon regulation but he also conceded that any Financial Fair Play Mark II could also damage Bayern as it will have to address the lack of competition in European leagues, with Bayern having won their eighth successive Bundesliga title, Juventus their ninth successive scudetto and Paris St Germain their seventh French league title in eight years.

Asked if Bayern's task to win the Champions League would now be harder after City's overturned their two-year ban at CAS, Kahn said: 'Yes, that's right, if we look at the Financial Fair Play issue it would be. We are very interested that this Financial Fair Play should be taken more seriously.

'I don't know the situation exactly now in Man City or Paris St Germain or other clubs but I think we should take this Financial Fair Play in the future more seriously, because if we don't do that, we don't need it. I think there is a lot of work to do and as you see from the competition in Europe, we need a clear structure and serious Financial Fair Play so that we get more-balanced competition.

'If in the future you only have the same clubs winning the Champions League or winning for example Bundesliga or Premier League or other leagues I think it's getting a little bit boring. So, I think we should do everything to get really strong Financial Fair Play.'

And he conceded that could mean sharing Champions League proceeds more equitably across the whole of football, including with the Bundesliga, to create more competition.

'I think that's the big question at the moment in football. If you look for example in Italy, you have Juventus winning now the ninth title. If you look to Spain, you have always the situation between Real Madrid and Barcelona. I think if you look to England, you have different champions in the last years.

'We as Bayern Munich we are always interested in a more-balanced competition in our league but we have to be careful concerning the money because we are not only competing in the German Bundesliga, we as a global brand are also competing in Europe. These are not easy questions but we need to find an answer in the next months.'

And Kahn, who will succeed Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as Bayern chief executive in 2022, insisted that Bayern weren't conspiracy to thwart City specifically but simply wanted better all-round regulation.

'There is absolutely no agenda because I think Bayern Munich always wants to compete at the highest level and that is what the audience loves. If you see games like Real v Barcelona, Real v Manchester United or Manchester City v Bayern Munich…

'But we also have to care about our national leagues. It is absolutely clear that Bayern Munich is a global brand and Bayern Munich wants to compete against the best clubs. That is very important. But if you look at your local leagues, for example Italy or here in Germany we have this big discussion – how can we balance the system more, how can we balance the competition

'We are very open, as Bayern Munich, to that discussion but here in Germany people of the other clubs they must understand that as Bayern Munich we have to compete in Europe at the highest level against other clubs.

'So this discussion about money, how much money the different clubs in Germany get – this discussion will come in the next weeks. We have to find this balance between our local leagues and get a good competition there but we as Bayern Munich must also compete in Europe against the other clubs. To find this balance is I think not an easy thing. '