“I was never a pharisee there”: Why Karl-Heinz Rummenigge still sees nothing reprehensible in FC Bayern’s controversial Qatar partnership.
On Saturday, FC Bayern fans once again unveiled a prominent banner criticising their favourite club’s relationship with Qatar. At the annual general meeting on 25 November, one supporter wants to put an early end to the Qatar sponsorship via a motion. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, on the other hand, has once again defended the controversial deal with sleeve sponsor “Qatar Airways”.
“I was never a pharisee there, if I may say so,” the former CEO of FC Bayern told “WDR 2”. “We got good money for Bayern Munich from this contract. And this money is also important in a certain necessity to pay the players so that you also have good quality on the pitch.” After all, he said, the record-breaking champions are competing internationally with much more financially strong clubs.
The NGOs have always said: “Keep going, don’t let up.
At the same time, it was “always important” during his time with the Bavarians “that we exerted a bit of socio-political influence there, that improvements were made in terms of human and labour rights. We often flew to NGOs in Brussels and discussed with them what else could be done. If I’m honest, everyone always confirmed: Keep going, don’t let up.”
However, “it must also be said that of all the Arab states, Qatar has made the greatest improvements in terms of human and labour rights. It is well known that they do not have a comparable standard with Europe. But one should also not forget that it took us 100 years in Germany to guarantee this standard.”
Qatar is a young state. One will therefore have to “have patience”, Rummenigge said. He is of the opinion that “human and labour rights in these countries have already improved, also because of football”.
