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The Bundesliga is reportedly drawing up plans for end-of-season play-offs to revitalise German football after years of Bayern Munich dominance.
Bayern have won the Bundesliga for the last nine seasons in a row and are on course for a record-extending 10th consecutive title this year.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side are currently six points clear of closest rivals Borussia Dortmund with 12 games left to play.
Bayern’s hegemony has prompted the German Football League (DFL) to explore the possibility of end-of-season play-offs to combat the predictability of the Bundesliga.
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The DFL's new CEO Donata Hopfen told German publication BILD: “There are no taboos for me. If play-offs will help us, then we'll talk about play-offs.”
The proposal has received surprising support from Bayern chief executive, former goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.
“I find it exciting to think about new models such as play-offs for the Bundesliga,” he told Kicker.
“A format in the Bundesliga with semi-finals and finals would mean excitement for the fans.
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“So it makes sense to play through such an idea. We at FC Bayern are always open to new ideas.”
However, former Bayern president Uli Hoeness has slammed the idea.
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“That's his opinion - it's not mine. I find that ridiculous,” Hoeness told Servus TV.
“In the Bundesliga, whoever is the best after 34 match days and who has gone through thick and thin with his team should win the championship.
“That's just a law against Bayern Munich! That has nothing to do with tension.”
He added: “The new managing director of the DFL thinks day and night about how to break the dominance of FC Bayern.
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“And that's when they came up with this idea. There are no play-offs in any major league in the world, not in England, not in Spain, not in Italy, not in France.”
The majority of Bundesliga clubs are reportedly against the plans, including Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt and Union Berlin.
Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke is willing to explore the idea but is reluctant to give it the green light.
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“I’ve never been a friend of the play-offs idea, but, given the general situation, there shouldn't be any ban on thinking about different formats,” he told Kicker.
But his counterpart at Leverkusen, Rudi Voller, has voiced his opposition.
“A totally wrong approach. I'm completely against it,” he said.
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Topics: Bundesliga, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Monchengladbach, Werder Bremen, RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg
Rory O'Callaghan