Friday, July 16, 2021
“Desire went unanswered”
Qatar reports on DFB advances
Alleged negotiations between a Qatari state company and the DFB have been causing excitement and alienation for days, officially emerging concerns remain uncommented. Now the World Cup hosts from 2022 are expressing themselves – and leaving the DFB unhappy.
At the German Football Association they are currently rare, the good news. The president had to vacate his post after a scandal over a tasteless Nazi comparison (and is thus in the ugly tradition of his youngest predecessors), at least the national team is not doing very well in terms of sport – and then the latest news caused a lot of trouble: The DFB is said to be in negotiations with Qatar Airways, the state airline of World Cup host Qatar.
“The DFB must be clearly aware of the external impact of such negotiations. Demonstrating on the green lawn for human rights and then striving for sponsorship contracts with the state airline of a country in which the human rights situation is extremely fragile hardly fits together,” complained Gyde Jensen Chairwoman of the Bundestag Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, in the “Bild am Sonntag”. CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak wrote on Instagram: “The DFB has a great responsibility, it cannot seriously only concern the money. “He further explains:” That our national team flies with our national airline instead of Qatar Airways, is also a question of patriotism and national honor. ”
Requests of the DFB “remained unanswered to this day”
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” was the first to report on the association’s supposed talks with one of the most important state-owned corporations of the next World Cup host. Accordingly, the negotiations are already so far that a template for the Presidium could soon be drawn up.
The DFB has not yet issued an official statement on the entire complex, but DFB circles have heard that the airline has approached the association, writes the German Press Agency. Now the Qatar embassy answered – and announced that everything was completely different. “Contrary to the press reports, there have never been any negotiations or discussions between Qatar Airways and the DFB about sponsorship or other funding,” the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Germany, Abdulla Mohammed Al-Thani, is quoted in a message from the embassy.
Corresponding interest in a partnership was certainly there – but only on the part of the Germans. “Although Qatar Airways was contacted by the DFB with such a request, this has remained unanswered to this day. Qatar Airways is currently not considering entering into negotiations.” The debate in Germany was “taken with astonishment,” the embassy said. Qatar, the host country of the 2022 World Cup, has been in the public eye for years because of the human rights situation and conditions for foreign workers.
The sports ethicist Professor Franz Bockrath had opposite sportschau.de recently explained what a partnership with Qatar Airways would make problematic for the DFB: “First of all the situation in Qatar itself, but also the guidelines that the DFB has given itself. There is the DFB’s code of ethics, which a partnership with Qatar Airways would certainly contradict it. It was expressly stated that one wanted to take human rights into account and that human rights violations would be resolutely opposed. ” The DFB had “approved a human rights policy in April, in which it was expressly stated that when choosing partners in business you would also pay attention to reliability, that you would like to be responsible. Given such statements, it would be very strange if the DFB would sign such a lucrative contract. “
“Setting an example for the values we want to stand for”
The national team also used two international matches before the start of the European Championship to aggressively push for an improvement in the local situation. “Of course we have the World Cup ahead of us. This is discussed again and again. We want to make it clear to society that we are not ignoring this, but rather making it clear what the conditions are,” commented Leon Goretzka: “We have a wide range – and can use them wonderfully to set standards for the values we want to stand for. ” Before the World Cup qualifier against Iceland, the DFB players formed the words “HUMAN RIGHTS” with painted shirts. “As a national team, we have the strength to address things. If one thing or the other doesn’t fit here on earth, you have the chance to use football to draw attention to the grievances. We want to do that with a view to the World Cup” explained Joshua Kimmich.
Qatar Airways is already a partner of numerous top European clubs, including the German industry leader FC Bayern Munich.
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