Berlin (dpa) – DFB interim president Hans-Joachim Watzke and presidential candidate Peter Peters no longer want to see Russian state-owned companies like Gazprom as sponsors in football.
“It’s dirty money now. You have to say very clearly, in every direction, that can no longer exist, we can no longer accept it,” said Watzke (62) in the ZDF “Sportstudio”. “That has to be the contribution of every club or organization because the people of Ukraine have just suffered enough and it’s really not a big sacrifice to say: ‘We don’t want your money.’
Gazprom is currently a major sponsor of the European Football Union UEFA and the second division club FC Schalke 04, among others. “A clear yes,” Peters (59) replied when asked whether UEFA and Schalke should end their cooperation with the Russian energy giant. It is neither communicable nor responsible to continue like this. “Things have changed so massively. It can’t go on like this,” said Peters.
In view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UEFA is advising how to proceed with the multi-million dollar Gazprom contract, which also applies to the 2024 European Championship in Germany. Schalke has been supported by Gazprom Germania since 2007.
Peters for the exclusion of Russian teams
Peters, who left the club in 2020 and wants to be elected DFB president on March 11, was Schalke’s chief financial officer when the contract was signed. At the weekend, as a reaction to the war in Ukraine, the second division team played without the sponsor’s lettering on their shirts.
At the same time, Peters spoke out in favor of excluding Russian football teams from all international competitions. “I can’t imagine that anyone can play a football match against a Russian team right now,” he said. He also supports the exclusion of the Russian national team from the playoffs for the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year. “As long as the war is on, definitely,” said Peters.