Bayern to pay tribute to Beckenbauer at memorial service

Bayern Munich will hold a memorial service for Franz Beckenbauer in their Allianz Arena on Friday, January 19, the record Bundesliga champions announced on Tuesday.

The club is inviting "friends and companions from national and international sport, culture and politics as well as all fans and the entire football family in general to bid farewell to the unforgettable 'Kaiser' in a special, emotional setting."

The celebration will centre on memories of Germany and Bayern great Beckenbauer, who died on Sunday at the age of 78.

Bayern also announced that the club had received letters of condolence from all over the world.

"The joint ceremony at Bayern's stadium is intended to create an opportunity to honour Franz Beckenbauer in the environment in which he reached people's hearts in a unique way: on the football pitch," a statement added.

Bayern Munich's team remembered their greatest player at training.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel and the players posed with a shirt saying "Danke Franz" (Thank you Franz) and with a jersey he wore in 1965 before training, and during the session donned black armbands.

The club said that their Allianz Arena would be illuminated with the same words "Danke Franz" over the next few evenings.

Club representatives are to sign a Bavarian state government book of condolence on Wednesday together with state Prime Minister Markus Söder, and interested members of the public can follow.

Beckenbauer's stature was underlined by former German chancellor Angela Merkel issuing a statement about his death.

"I received the news of Franz Beckenbauer's death with great sadness. Franz Beckenbauer was a great personality in German football - and far beyond," she said.

"I got to know him personally in 2006, the year of the World Cup in Germany, which characterized our country like few other events. Without Franz Beckenbauer, a citizen of the world, it would not have been possible to turn it into an unforgettable summer fairytale."

Beckenbauer played at Bayern 1964-77, winning their first four of 32 Bundesliga titles, four German Cups, three European Cups, plus one Cup Winners' Cup and Intercontinental Cup each. He briefly coached the team twice in the 1990s and was club president 1994-2009.

Considered among the best players of all time who redefined the sweeper position, Germany's Beckenbauer won the World Cup as a player in 1974 and as a coach in 1990, one of only three men to do so.

He helped Germany win the hosting for the 2006 World Cup but later allegations of corruption in the voting partly tarnished his legacy.

In order to commemorate the man known as "Der Kaiser" (the emperor) in the best possible way, Berti Vogts proposed renaming the German Cup after him in the Rheinische Post paper.

The German Football Federation (DFB) said it would consult his family and Bayern on how to honour Beckenbauer after a period of mourning.

The DFB did not want to comment on the German Cup proposal from Vogts, who won the World Cup alongside Beckenbauer in 1974 and succeeded him as national team coach in 1990.

Vogts' idea was backed by former Germany player Olaf Thon and long-time Werder Bremen official Willi Lemke.

A tribute such as a minute's silence or applause is expected to be observed at weekend matches in the Bundesliga and other leagues.

Borussia Dortmund and Belgian club Standard Liege observed a minute silence to honour Beckenbauer ahead of their friendly on Tuesday.

The German football museum in Dortmund said it plans special events to commemorate Beckenbauer, including a digital condolence book and a wreath laid down under a Beckenbauer portrait in its Hall of Fame.

Tributes continued to arrive on Tuesday from Germany and abroad for Beckenbauer, who also played for New York Cosmos and SV Hamburg, and was chief organizer of the 2006 World Cup.

Ex-England great David Beckham said on Instagram that Beckenbauer was "a special person, special player and a true gentleman."

Former-DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach told ran.de: "No German personality was probably as well-known and recognized in the world as Franz.

"I particularly realized that before the 2006 World Cup when we visited the 31 qualified countries, starting in Tehran and ending in Sydney. This gesture earned us enormous sympathy as World Cup hosts, but was really only possible with Franz Beckenbauer."

Beckenbauer's long-time Munich and Germany team-mate, goalkeeper Sepp Maier, published an emotional farewell letter via broadcaster Sport1.

"I will never forget you - as a team-mate, sportsman and above all as a person. You were a pop star of German football. Every footballer can take a leaf out of your book when it comes to your elegance on the pitch. You were never aloof, but always remained a man of the people," Maier said.

"You were always a shining light for us, shining from above from now on. German football and I will really miss you. Goodbye, my friend."