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In the 4th issue of the FMA Quarterly, we interviewed Michael gerlinger (FMA’02). Here, you can find the full interview.

The German Michael Gerlinger – a FIFA Master alumnus whom graduated in 2002 – has enjoyed some very intense celebrations lately. It couldn’t be different: he’s the Legal Director of 2013 UEFA Champions League Winners, FC Bayern München! “It was definitely my best work experience ever. Coming so close the last years really created a lot of tension and emotion and after the final whistle all the tension turned into the biggest party ever. It took me one hour until I was able to speak again”, he says.

Michael wasn’t always a Bayern supporter, but that makes no difference, as he explains: “I have to admit that coming from Stuttgart, I supported VfB Stuttgart as a kid. But when you work for a club like Bayern, twenty four-seven, you feel part of it immediately. Although many people say that a real supporter can never change allegiance, that’s not 100% true. Believe me: also Franck Ribéry is more a fan of FC Bayern München than of Boulogne now!”

According to him, working in sports today is somehow different than what it was when he finished the FIFA Master, 11 years ago. “It has become more commercial, and is even more in the public focus (social and online media play a big part in that), so some things got a bit more difficult. You have to be very careful, if you don’t want to let information such as negotiations with players or coaches leak to the public. You can’t just meet in a restaurant anymore to discuss these things, because five minutes later there is a mobile picture in the media”.

FMA Quarterly:  Can you tell us a little about your professional career? What did you do before the FIFA Master? And how did you get to where you are now, after the FIFA Master?
Michael Gerlinger:  I worked as an external lawyer for an ice hockey and a motor racing team, so I already had some experience in that field. Having finished the Master, firstly I only had offers from law firms. Sports clubs and associations themselves were quite reluctant due to the financial crisis in sports at that time (the Kirch crisis). So I started my own small sports expertise at the Taylor Wessing law firm and was lucky to get some high profile clients such as FIFA, Lothar Matthäus and FC Bayern. A very important element was that I successfully represented FC Bayern and five other German clubs in a European Commission case regarding the joint selling of TV rights. After having won this case, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge asked whether it wouldn’t be easier if I work directly at Bayern… It took me one second to answer!

FMAQ  Tell us a bit about what it’s like to be the Director of Legal Affairs of top football club. What are the things that you like the most – and what are those that you actually don’t like?
MG: Being the legal director is probably very different from club to club. I have colleagues at public listed clubs that need to work a lot in investor relations, while others, at smaller clubs, do a typical in-house lawyer job as “full service”. At Bayern we have a specific focus on institutional relations and do a lot of football “politics”. As I am basically the assistant of Karl-Heinz, I started very early working with UEFA, FIFA and the EU institutions. We were both involved in the “peace negotiations” with UEFA in 2007, which lead to creation of the “European Club Association” (ECA), which I was happy to manage for the first six months in 2008. Since then, we are both working in several committees at ECA and UEFA and that takes approximately 50% of my time.

Another issue that I enjoy very much is transfers. Although those times can be very chaotic and time-consuming, it is fantastic if you conclude difficult transfers such as (Arjen) Robben’s and Javí Martinez’s and you see them performing on the pitch afterwards.

What I don’t like….(long pause): loosing! But we stopped that.

FMAQ: Was the FIFA Master important for you to get where you are now?
MG  Definitely! Karl-Heinz always says that due to the FIFA Master I have this “affinity” to sports that you need to work in this environment.

FMAQ:  Do you still keep in touch with your former classmates? In your view, how important is it to us, alumni, to maintain an active network (also with people from different years)?
MG: Yes, I keep in touch with some of them and I also work regularly with alumni working in football (at ECA, EPFL etc.). The network was and is very important for me. Although I admit that I don’t follow that intensively anymore the Alumni activities, I firmly believe that for all of us, having an exchange regularly is crucial.

FMAQ:  What advice would you give to the Class of 2013, which is just about to graduate in Neuchâtel and will be looking for jobs in sports?
MG: I think the most important issue is to show and explain the added value a FIFA Master student can give to the employer. And that not only means the knowledge acquired in Leicester, Milan and Neuchatel. There is the network that all of us have. You will probably know many people working in sports that are also important for your employer. And you studied in a VERY international environment, being with students from all over the world, travelling through three different countries. You have experience in different cultures and you might have learned new languages there. So stress that. You are an advantage.

Short profile:
   Michael Gerlinger, 40, German.
   Married to Alex and father of Théo (6) and Loan (4)
   Diretor of Legal Affairs at FC Bayern München
Football club: FC Bayern München
Most memorable sporting moment: What else other than FC Bayern winning the Champions League in an all-German Final at the legendary Wembley Stadium?