25 million euros per year
FC Bayern loses lucrative Qatar sponsorship
06/28/2023, 10:20 am
FC Bayern has had troubles with the fans for years. The reason is the sponsorship by the Qatari state company Qatar Airways because of the questionable human rights situation in the country. Now the club and the airline are ending their collaboration.
FC Bayern and the airline Qatar Airways are going their separate ways. The sponsorship by the Qatari company, which officially expires on Friday, will not be extended, Bayern Munich and the state-owned company announced in a joint statement.
“The connections that FC Bayern was able to establish with its fans in the Arab world through Qatar Airways will remain,” the statement said. “Both partners have actively promoted an exchange between cultures. It has always been the goal of FC Bayern and Qatar Airways to connect people through football, including women’s football. Trusting, open exchange has resulted in friendships that will continue to exist.”
Jan-Christian Dreesen, the new CEO of FC Bayern, thanked for the “successful cooperation” and the CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, wished the record champions all the best for the future and said: “FC Bayern Munich is a great football club whose games we watched with joy and passion.”
Fan scene protested for years
The sponsor had been at odds for years, especially in the fan scene of the German record champions. The reason for this is, among other things, the questionable human rights situation in the World Cup host country of 2022. The 2021 annual general meeting escalated tumultuously due to the topic. Member and Qatar critic Michael Ott wanted to submit an unsolicited motion to have the members vote on FC Bayern’s sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways, which was very controversial among some Munich fans. The presidium around Herbert Hainer did not allow that at the time.
A year later, Ott spoke at the annual general meeting and was violently attacked by honorary president Uli Hoeneß: “Your appearance was embarrassing. This is the Bayern Munich football club and not the general meeting of Amnesty International.” Ott had complained that FC Bayern was being “instrumentalized” by Qatar. In his view, this is “unacceptable”.
Hoeneß then stated at the beginning of this year, with a view to the major protests in Germany against the World Cup hosts in the Sport1 “double pass”, that it was “by no means certain” that their Qatari sponsor was ready to extend the contract: “The headwind, the felt here has left its mark there.”
The spokesman for the fan club umbrella organization Club No. 12, Alexander Salzweger, also said before FC Bayern’s obligatory winter training camp in Qatar at Spox and Goal: “I can imagine that Qatar no longer wants a club like Bayern . There are discussions all the time, they have to send representatives to round tables and are attacked at every general meeting: They can’t find that cool.”
Where will the millions come from in the future?
The club is said to have earned 25 million euros annually through the commitment since 2018. Until recently, it looked as if the club’s management wanted to stick with the sponsor. “In addition to the financial and legal aspects, we’re also concerned with the social aspects. We’ll talk to Qatar Airways and then we’ll see what comes of it,” President Herbert Hainer said two weeks ago.
But now the decision has been made, the sponsor will no longer adorn the sleeve of Bayern’s jersey. It is not yet clear who will receive this place instead. In front of Qatar Airways, Lufthansa could be seen with its logo on the sleeve. At 10 million euros, the commitment brought in significantly less than the advertising from Qatar.