Fans disappointed by the Qatar deal: FC Bayern takes refuge in hot marketing air

Fans disappointed in Qatar deal
FC Bayern takes refuge in hot marketing air

By David Needy

A year ago, there was absolute chaos at the FC Bayern general meeting because of the sponsorship deal with Qatar. This time, the Munich-based company will answer questions from members about the cooperation in advance. But the FCB takes refuge in irrelevant PR talk – and is fully in line with Qatar and FIFA.

FC Bayern is once again commenting on the subject of Qatar. The club likes to do this often. Sometimes in the person of President Herbert Hainer, sometimes Honorary President Uli Hoeneß rages in the well-known manner. The tenor is always the same: in the emirate, which is known for a wide range of human rights problems, nothing improves if you don’t cooperate with it, or if you stop it. In other words, Munich’s deal with Qatar Airways, the country’s state airline, will not be touched.

FC Bayern is now again telling something about Qatar and the said partnership. This time on the club’s own website. Before it comes to the annual general meeting tonight (6 p.m.), the club will answer Questions from club members, which were presented to him at the round table on “Developments in Qatar” at the beginning of July. There are 32 questions in total, the answers are sometimes long and sometimes short. But – and the biggest club in Germany should be able to do this better – FC Bayern rarely gets past marketing talk.

A quick look back shows why the German record champions are now taking this step. The 2021 AGM ended in chaos. Qatar in particular was a point of contention, also because a member’s request to vote on cooperation with Qatar Airways was not even approved. A horrified Uli Hoeneß stood at the lectern and shortly afterwards left the podium without a word when the riot of a fan opposition escalated with whistles and boos against the Bayern bosses with President Hainer as the central stimulus figure around the disputed issue of Qatar sponsorship. The club then sent a letter to its members, admitting that “it hadn’t done everything right” and acknowledging “that there had been a backlog on the Qatar issue”.

Repeating the same phrases

Not much needs to be said or written about the injustice happening in Qatar. From the exploitation of migrant workers to the persecution of homosexuals, including severe penalties, to restricted women’s rights. The desert state is said to have even financed terrorism.

So now FC Bayern’s next attempt to explain the Qatar sponsorship. But the German record champions failed again. As answers to the members’ questions on these topics, he only produces hot PR air, sometimes repeats the same phrases and often fails to provide any real information.

When asked about concrete progress in Qatar, to which FC Bayern has demonstrably contributed, the Munich team answered “women’s sport and for equality”, without being able to name specific examples in these fields. “In addition, FC Bayern maintains a dialogue,” it continues, but without explaining why sponsorship is needed at all. Or why as part of the deal you have to advertise Qatar Airways on the jersey sleeve, which in the sense of sports washing helps Qatar to build a positive image despite human rights violations through one of the most famous clubs in the world.

In general, several answers state that sport cannot “substitute actions” for politics. On the one hand, of course, that’s true, on the other hand, FC Bayern must realize that Qatar sponsorship is always political. The club has long since moved beyond the purely “sporting” arena and therefore has a special responsibility in the age of football’s politicization. The fact that Qatar Airways is a state-owned company in an unjust state is dismissed by the fact that the federal government is also “involved” in Lufthansa or Deutsche Bahn.

FC Bayern aligned with Qatar and FIFA

When asked why only the women’s team and not the men’s on-site actions are carried out at training camps in Qatar, when the men’s training camp attracts significantly more attention, the record champion suddenly presents himself as a “woman understander” and fighter for women’s rights. FC Bayern, where Hoeneß long criticized women’s football and who decided to first expand the basketball instead of the women’s department in the club.

If you want a society in Germany “in which women and men have the same rights,” the answers say, “it shouldn’t make any difference whether women or men stand up for equality on behalf of FC Bayern”. Female footballers would certainly like to hear such a statement from Munich about equal pay.

The club then provides information on whether President Herbert Hainer and CEO Oliver Kahn would advise a homosexual FCB player to fly to Qatar with his partner. FC Bayern explained that they had “inquired with FIFA” and that they had announced “that the 2022 World Cup would be an inclusive and safe football festival for everyone”. In addition, the organizing committee of the World Cup finally said clearly “that everyone is welcome and asked to respect the culture of the country”. Qatar’s and FIFA’s views are not surprising. The fact that the people of Munich accept this without questioning it and are fully in line could even be dangerous for homosexual fans.

Because warnings from human rights and LGBTQ+ organizations clearly contradict the PR speech of the world association and the anti-queer desert state. In September, Human Rights Watch specifically advised gay football fans not to travel to Qatar. It’s best to leave it alone, said Germany director Wenzel Michalski of the “Schwäbische Zeitung”. The message from Qatar to guests and tourists to stick to the country’s traditions can be understood as a “charmingly presented warning”, said Michalski, which resonates: “If you live it out like in Berlin-Schoeneberg, then we will think of something.” Article 285 of Qatar’s penal code states: “Anyone who sleeps with a man over the age of 16 without coercion, coercion or subterfuge shall be punished with imprisonment for up to seven years.” Islamic law even allows flogging and the death penalty.

Hoeneß wants to extend the deal

FC Bayern also does not cut a good figure when it comes to allegations of terrorist financing. A member wants to know to what extent the club has dealt with the allegations. “FC Bayern is not aware that the Qatar Airways Group or Qatar were involved in terrorist financing,” was the reply. It is of course not surprising that a football club does not know whether a company or a state has taken such an act or not. But that it court proceedings and media reports to the allegations, the people of Munich should have noticed.

Furthermore, the club announced in this reply that Qatar is not on the suspected list of the “Financial Action Task Force (FATF) set up by the G-7 countries” with the issue of money laundering and terrorist financing. This is also true. However, the record champions remain silent about the fact that nine of the 37 FATF members are autocratic states and that the list, which currently only contains 25 countries, is therefore of little importance. The Research Platform “Know your country” lists Qatar in 92nd place out of 246 in the area of ​​money laundering and attests the emirate a growing problem with the issue.

And so FC Bayern seems to be trying, but not really prepared for questions about the political integrity of the expensive partner. A disappointment for the fans at today’s AGM. The sponsorship contract with Qatar Airways runs until 2023. Despite the controversial human rights situation in Qatar and the headwind from the fan scene, it will probably be extended in the coming year – Uli Hoeneß recently campaigned for it.

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