Unrest before the start of the season – team withdraws because of sponsor

Team withdraws shortly before the start

Unrest in Toni Kroos’ football league

With the Icon League, Toni Kroos wanted to inspire hundreds of thousands of people for football. But the anticipation is cloudy before the third season.

The new season of the Icon League, the Kleinfeld soccer league of world champion Toni Kroos and Streamer Elias Nerlich will start in a week. Prominent team owners such as David Alaba, Antonio Rüdiger or Laura Wontorra will be fighting for the title next Monday.

But before the start there is a lot of unrest. At first, the organizers decided almost two weeks ago to delete the “Motor Neufünfland” team by Rapper Finch, ex-footballer Torsten Mattuschka and national player Tim Kleindienst. “We can still hardly believe it: we are not allowed to take part in the Icon League. We were ready to finally get the engine on tours. But unfortunately our trip ends earlier than planned,” said a statement.

The “Istanbul United” team was added to the league as a replacement. The streamer and ex-Youtuber Mert wanted to start together with the former Turkish international Hasan Ali Kaldırım as a team owner. But Mert announced yesterday’s Sunday to withdraw. The reason for the decision is a new sponsor of the Icon League: Coca-Cola. The beverage giants are accused of being supporters of Israel in the war in the Gaza strip. In many Muslim countries, the group’s drinks are therefore boycotted.

The owners of “Istanbul United” did not want to take place in a competition sponsored by Coca-Cola. “As a team, we listened to all the arguments and tried to stay professional in which we have waited possible solutions and suggestions. But now we have reached a point where we can no longer stay still,” says the statement on Instagram. “Our values, our attitude and sympathy weigh more than any chance of sporty or media success.”

But that’s not all. Bilal Kamarieh, former football player and streamer, the co-team boss of “B2B United”, also announced that it can withdraw from the Icon League. “Unfortunately, for moral and ethical reasons, I can no longer reconcile it with my conscience. I will put the office as Team Captain from B2B United,” said Kamarieh on Instagram.