Donors are not necessarily popular in football - not even within their own club. This applies, for example, to Martin Kind at Hannover 96 and Hasan Ismaik, the investor of TSV 1860 Munich. The centrepiece of the internal disputes is the 50-plus-1 rule. According to this rule of the German Football League, the clubs retain the majority of votes in order to prevent a takeover by an investor. The exceptions are Bayer 04 Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg with Volkswagen and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim with Dietmar Hopp.

Ismaik is not happy with the rule and would have preferred to overturn it for 1860 Munich as well. The 46-year-old Jordanian businessman has been involved with his company HAM International Ltd. since 2011. At the time, the club was on the brink of insolvency.

Ismaik paid 18 million euros for the investment. He holds a 60% stake in the capital company of the traditional club, which is based in the Giesing district and won the German championship in 1966. In Ismaik's opinion, the rule does not protect German football, but harms it and even weakens it in comparison to clubs in England, Spain and Italy.

From a sports perspective, Ismaik's plans have far from materialized. He envisioned his Lions playing in the Champions League in the future, had ideas for a new stadium – complete with an enclosure with real lions beside it. However, the everyday life in the league is gray. Since relegation from the second Bundesliga in 2017, the team has not managed to climb back up. Due to financial difficulties, they even dropped to the fourth tier – the Regionalliga Bayern – for a year.

Ismaik had refused to fulfill the license requirements with a payment of around 11 million euros. The club is currently stuck in the third league. There is even a risk of relegation: after 20 season games, 1860 is now in 15th place on the table, only three points away from 17th place, the first of the four relegation spots.

In early December, the Swiss coach Maurizio Jacobacci was dismissed after just under ten months and five defeats in the last six games. This week, 1860 presented Argirios Giannikis as his successor. Representatives of the investor side and the club's board had been in dispute for weeks over the position of the sports managing director, which needed to be filled anew. Utilizing the 50-plus-1 rule, the club side ultimately prevailed a few days ago with their candidate Christian Werner, against the concerns in Ismaik's camp.

In early December, Ismaik complained via the "Sport Bild" magazine: "No one can demand that the e.V. (club) hires personnel at will, and then the investor has to foot the bill." On the other side, the club (e.V.) is trying to limit Ismaik's influence on decisions related to sports. The power struggle between both parties has burdened the club for years.

A portion of the Lions' fans vehemently expresses their dissatisfaction with Ismaik in the stadium by repeatedly chanting the song "Scheiß auf den Scheich, scheiß auf sein Geld" (Screw the Sheikh, screw his money). In stark contrast, the motivation for Ismaik's involvement in German football on the website of his investment company, Marya Group, sounds quite different: "The historical brand of TSV 1860, along with the loyal and passionate fans, was decisive for Marya's investment."

The headquarters of the company founded by Ismaik is located in the United Arab Emirates. Ismaik, who studied business administration, engages in business activities related to real estate, oil, and gas. On Marya's website, he claims a "solid reputation as one of the most influential business leaders in the Middle East." In the summer of 2016, Marya announced considering an initial public offering (IPO) for the future. However, this declaration has not materialized so far.

In 2014, the US-based business magazine "Forbes" estimated Ismaik's fortune at 1.4 billion dollars, identifying him as the first Jordanian billionaire. Three years later, after losses in a particular investment, "Forbes" revised the estimate down to only 341 million dollars. According to the "Vermögen Magazin," his current wealth is allegedly 305 million euros. At least a small portion of this decline is attributed to Ismaik's involvement with TSV 1860.