Overview
- Hainer acknowledged at a media event at the Allianz Arena that he initially did not know Gernot Mang when they met at a Bavarian football gathering.
- He described the interaction by saying he greeted Mang, asked which club he was with, and learned he was 1860’s president during the conversation.
- He rejected accusations of disrespect, insisting he was friendly, and joked about 1860’s frequent leadership changes.
- Mang had told the Münchner Abendzeitung that Hainer should have known who he was and said a little humility would benefit Bayern, also criticizing Hainer’s high-profile exit to a Champions League trip.
- Coverage from tz and SPORT1 places the dust-up within the long-declining rivalry, noting 1860’s reduced prominence and recent executive turnover as context for the misrecognition.