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FC Schalke 04 ends cooperation with Russian sponsor Gazprom
Flags of FC Schalke 04 sponsor Gazprom in front of the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen
© Ina FASSBENDER / AFP
FC Schalke 04 ends the cooperation with the Russian sponsor Gazprom prematurely. Despite the separation, FC sees itself financially fully capable of acting.
As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, second division soccer team FC Schalke 04 will prematurely end its cooperation with Russian sponsor Gazprom. This was decided by the board of directors with the approval of the supervisory board, he said club on Monday with
The board of directors and the supervisory board are in talks with representatives of the current main sponsor, further information on this will be announced “in due course”. “The club’s full financial capacity to act remains unaffected by this decision. The club’s management is confident that it will be able to present a new partner in the near future,” the statement said.
FC Schalke 04: Contract with Gazprom actually until 2025
For Schalke, the separation means a hard cut. The Russian state-owned company, one of Germany’s largest gas suppliers, has so far been the most important financier of the traditional club, which is burdened with around 200 million euros in liabilities. The contract actually runs until 2025.
Already last week, amidst the impact of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and amid mounting criticism of the Gazprom connection, the club decided to remove the company’s lettering from the jersey. In the second division game in Karlsruhe, the Royal Blues instead ran with the club name on the shirt front.
The businessman Matthias Warnig, who was sanctioned by the USA, had resigned his mandate as Gazprom representative on the Schalke supervisory board. Warnig is the CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG, which is a subsidiary of the Russian energy company Gazprom. The energy giant was brought on board by former Schalke supervisory board chairman and meat producer Clemens Tönnies.
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DFB interim president Hans-Joachim Watzke recently said on ZDF: “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.” Watzke had announced the “solidarity of the other clubs in Germany” if Schalke got into financial difficulties if they separated from Gazprom.
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