Germany’s leading football club Bayern Munich held talks this year with EQT over selling a minority stake to the private equity firm, in a deal that would have reignited a heated national debate over the merits of private capital firms investing in football. Negotiations fell apart when Bayern’s chief financial officer Michael Diederich, EQT’s contact at the club, left in the summer to become co-head of Deutsche Bank’s corporate banking business, according to three people familiar with the matter. German football fans have historically been highly critical of outside investment into the sport, with widespread protests prompting the country’s football league last year to call off talks over a potential private equity investment. With a few exceptions, clubs in Germany are subject to the ‘50+1’ ownership rule, which stipulates members must hold majority voting rights, in effect blocking commercial entities from gaining control. The rise of RB Leipzig, a German club whose r...