Mainz (dpa) – According to the conviction of its new president Bernd Neuendorf, the German Football Association would support the world association FIFA for a reparation fund for the families of the thousands of migrant workers who died during the construction of the World Cup infrastructure in Qatar.
“I would support that. We know about deaths on the construction sites and we don’t know how the families who depend on the money are doing,” said the DFB boss on Saturday evening in ZDF’s “Aktuelle Sportstudio”.
The call for the fund comes from the human rights organization Human Rights Watch. “It would of course be a great sign from the Qataris, but also from FIFA, if they said we would support such a measure here,” said Neuendorf. The DFB would participate in such an aid fund, he assured. First and foremost, however, the world association is asked “that FIFA, through the associations, see the possibility of creating a pot here that could also help”.
Whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Qatar for the World Cup at the end of the year is “not a question of wishful thinking,” Neuendorf remarked. “Politicians have to judge for themselves: If there is sufficient progress, there are reasons to travel to Qatar to support reformist forces.” He had agreed with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to talk about it now. “The federal government will then certainly have enough sources to assess whether it will then travel there.”
Neuendorf ruled out a partnership between the DFB and the airline Qatar Airways, which is also a sponsor of FC Bayern Munich. “In view of the human rights situation and the attitude that you have to show when it comes to sponsorship issues, I would tend to say no,” said the 60-year-old. He is also rather critical of the sponsorship of the German record champions from Munich by Qatar Airways, said DFB President Neuendorf, who has been in office for a month.