“Clear violation”
© Imago
The jersey sponsor Winamax criticized VfB Stuttgart Scharf for the decision to run on the chest in the final of the DFB Cup against Arminia Bielefeld with another company logo. “This poses a clear violation of our contractually agreed cooperation,” said the French betting provider. “The VfB once again misses the principles of a strong partnership that should be characterized by reliability, sincerity and fairness.” The news was noted with “great surprise”.
VfB had previously announced that the DFB Cup final on Saturday evening (8:00 p.m./ZDF and Sky) had to be contested with the jersey sponsor Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW). The bank had “signaled its willingness in a very short time to take over the jerseys for the final,” said the Bundesliga club. “For contractual reasons, the previous jersey sponsor is not shown in the DFB Cup final.”
The LBBW is actually only a new main and jerseys at VfB from the coming season. The cooperation with the betting provider, originally agreed by 2026, ends prematurely. The company’s entry was heavily criticized by many fans and, among other things, by investor Porsche. Winamax, in turn, complained that VfB “repeatedly performed call and business-damaging acts towards our company”. The company accused the association for transparency.
From an entrepreneurial point of view, the change of the jersey sponsor in the cup final is “necessary”, the VfB wrote. Rouven Kasper, Board of Directors Marketing and Sales, said to those fans who had already acquired the exclusive special jersey for the game in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium: “We will contact all jersey buyers in the coming week and show ourselves clearly.”