Sunday 25th July 2021
After a dispute over Qatar Airways
DFB wants to stay with Lufthansa after all
After the confusion surrounding alleged negotiations with Qatar Airways, the DFB now wants to extend the partnership with Lufthansa. According to media reports, this should actually be ended prematurely. The DFB wants to continue to stand up for its values.
The German Football Association (DFB) now wants to extend the contract with Lufthansa after the PR disaster surrounding alleged negotiations with Qatar Airways. “In its meeting on Friday, the Presidium stated that the options for a continuation of the partnership, which will expire next year, are to be agreed with Lufthansa,” said Oliver Bierhoff, Director of “Welt am Sonntag”.
“Basically we want long-term partnerships, if only in order to go beyond a purely economic business relationship to design and implement initiatives and projects for football development together,” added the 53-year-old.
At the request of ntv.de, a Lufthansa spokeswoman confirmed last week that the “cooperation agreement with the DFB” will run until the end of 2022. However, Lufthansa did not want to comment beyond this. According to media reports, the DFB had sought to end the contract early on December 31, 2021. The reports had led to another PR disaster for the association, which had been rushing from crisis to crisis for half a decade.
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported on the negotiations with the airline from the desert state. The Qatari ambassador confirmed a request from the DFB, but the 2022 World Cup host did not respond.
In this context, Bierhoff said that the German national team stood up for their values and emphasized: “An attitude is important, the players are absolutely aware of their role model role. It is the right thing to set standards.” However, the DFB also wants to “make sure that this is not carried out in an inflationary way, so that the messages can also be heard and not become arbitrary”. One thing is clear: “We will continue to stand up for human rights. Human rights are non-negotiable.”
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