Shortly before the annual general meeting, FC Bayern Munich published its answers to the list of questions asked by the members about the controversial Qatar sponsorship. The answers are not convincing.
“All questions that directly affect FC Bayern have been answered”, wrote the Bundesliga soccer club. In total, the Munich-based company responded to 32 questions in its statement.
The questions were presented to the club at a round table held by FC Bayern in July of this year on the subject of “Developments in Qatar”. Among other things, the members wanted information on how FC Bayern intends to prevent future human rights violations in Qatar or what progress the club has made in the desert state.
Evidence of progress: None
One looks in vain for specific answers or evidence of progress on the subject of human rights in the paper. At the 2019 AGM, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said they had a proven track record of contributing to Qatar’s progress.
The record champion only repeatedly emphasizes his commitment to women’s sport and equality in the host country of this year’s World Cup. In addition, reference is made to the dialogue with the UN sub-organization in several places ILO (International Labor Organisation), “which sets up and controls labor law reforms in Qatar with the Qatari government”.
Questionable role of the UN organization ILO
However, the ILO itself plays a questionable role: when Qatar promised labor law reforms in 2017, the ILO closed the complaints procedure and opened an inspection office in the emirate. Since then, the ILO has praised the progress made in Qatar.
An insider linked this change of course to the sports show with a money payment. Qatar is paying up to 25 million dollars to the ILO. The financing by Qatar is not unusual and has no influence on the work of the organization, the ILO emphasized to the sports show.
Qatar Airways has been a sponsor of FCB since 2018
Since the summer of 2018, the airline Qatar Airways has been a sponsor of Munich. FC Bayern has already announced that it will decide on the controversial partnership after the World Cup at the end of the year. The contract expires in 2023. Honorary President Uli Hoeneß had advocated extending the contract with Qatar Airways at the weekend.
The sponsorship, which is lucrative for the association, caused a dispute at the general meeting in autumn 2021 and ultimately chaos. There is another annual general meeting on Saturday.