Oliver Kahn, CEO of FC Bayern München AG, is at the lectern at the annual general meeting. Photo: Ulrich Gamel / Kolbert-Press / dpa. (Source: dpa)
Munich (AP) – Bayern Munich’s CEO Oliver Kahn has once again stated that the German record champions will fulfill their contract with Qatar Airways, which runs until 2023, but left an extension open.
“We will fulfill it and in the meantime observe exactly how things develop. And then we will decide how to proceed,” said Kahn in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Friday).
The lucrative Qatar sponsorship caused controversy and chaos at the general meeting a month ago. A membership application to vote on the partnership with the airline for the future was not accepted by the club’s management.
“The more time has passed since then, the more it bothers me that the evening has turned into a meeting with a single item on the agenda,” said Kahn. The former national goalkeeper admitted that he should have addressed the issue in his speech and not in the discussion afterwards: “Looking back, it would have been better to let the event continue, we agree.”
In the next World Cup host country, Qatar, many things are certainly not as people imagine “according to our standards, but I am convinced that it cannot be a solution either to exclude or not to engage in a dialogue,” emphasized Kahn. The 52-year-old said that economic interests are always at stake, of course, but also asked whether a boycott of the World Cup in Qatar in a year’s time would improve things there.
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