Bayern Munich will honor the late German football legend Franz Beckenbauer with a statue outside the Allianz Arena, the club's supporters' foundation has announced. Beckenbauer, considered one of the greatest players of all time, died in January at the age of 78.
Kaiser's statue will stand next to that of his former team-mate and striker Gerd Müller, which was unveiled in September. Müller, who still holds the Bundesliga goalscoring record, died in August 2021 at the age of 75.
The Kurt Landauer Foundation, named after the club's former president, said the statue would be cast in bronze and would be 1.5 times the size of the German football legend at around 2.7 meters tall. The statue of Beckenbauer "will be cast in bronze in his incomparably elegant pose as a maestro of the game", the foundation said in a statement.
Born in Munich, Beckenbauer played for Bayern for 13 years, winning the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup on several occasions and later successfully managed the club. At international level, Beckenbauer won the World Cup with Germany as a player and coach and is the only defender to win the Ballon d'Or twice. Beckenbauer played a key role in the construction of the Allianz Arena, which opened in time for the 2006 World Cup, which Germany hosted. The project is expected to take 18 months to complete, with the support of the Beckenbauer family and Bayern Munich, and fans are encouraged to donate. /BGNES
