Bayern Munich’s annual meeting ends with a turmoil over Qatar’s sponsorship | National

Bayern Munich’s annual meeting ended in a fuss with booing members, yelling at the club’s board members for refusing to discuss a sponsorship deal with Qatar.

“We’re Bayern! You’re not!” Late Thursday, angry fans chanted to club president Herbert Hainer, CEO Oliver Kahn, and other members of the board. “We are fans you don’t want!”

After club member Michael Ott failed to submit a motion to vote for the controversial sponsorship deal in Bavarian with Qatar, his temper broke down. Otto and many other Bavarian fans have damaged the club’s reputation due to alleged human rights abuses in the Persian Gulf country where the partnership with Qatar Airways until 2023 is preparing to host next year’s World Cup. Claims to be.

Otto’s first attempt was thwarted by the Club Law of the Munich District Court for technical reasons, but he wanted to get the support of more than 75% of AGM members and propose it anyway.

Bavarian Vice President Dietermeier objected.

“Welcome to Boo. We do not allow you to vote for illegal allegations here,” Meyer said, referring to a previous district court ruling.

Mr Ott said Bavarian club officials should have allowed members to discuss the benefits of the motion.

“Whether it’s legal to refuse to vote for this motion, at least allowing me to keep my speech prepared would have been a matter of good personality,” Ott said. Told the Associated Press on Friday.

Mr. Meyer said Mr. Ott welcomed him back to court to fight his proceedings and urged the majority of the members in attendance to boo, whistle and scream.

“I prepared a 15 to 20 minute speech,” Otto told AP. “I wanted to explain all the problems that exist in Qatar … and why signing a sponsorship deal with Qatar is in itself wrong. It only distracts from Qatar’s problems and tells Qatar. It hasn’t helped make a difference at all. All experts say that if you want to change something there, it’s only possible by public pressure, and that’s what FC Bavarian never wants to do. There is no such thing. “

At the Bundesliga match on November 6, Bavarian fans displayed a huge banner criticizing the club for “sports washing” of human rights abuses in Qatar through a partnership with Qatar Airways. The club has also been hosting mid-season training camps in Qatar since 2011.

The banner depicts Khan and Heiner washing their blood-stained clothes in the washing machine under the words, “Wash everything clean for money.”

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann defended the club’s stance at the time, saying, “I tried to influence things through dialogue, not exclusion or other perspectives.”

Mr Ott said Bayern’s claim to achieve change through secret discussions is “false.”

In August, Amnesty International accused Qatari authorities of doing little to investigate the deaths of thousands of young migrant workers in the country over the past decade.

“We need to change the legislation so that we can vote on hot topics,” said Otto, a club member since 2007.

He said the reaction received from fellow Bavarian supporters was almost positive.

“There was a priest who wrote me today, and the mayor wrote me, and many are encouraging me to continue fighting,” Otto said.

Due to the tightly restricted coronavirus in Bavaria, where infections are rampant, only 780 of the 1,700 members attended the club’s annual meeting. When Heiner suddenly ended the meeting, the people in attendance reacted violently, even though the other members were waiting for their turn to speak.

The news agency dpa has one member standing in a chair and talking without a microphone, while most of the fans in attendance say “Hainer out!

Heiner seemed surprised at the reaction.

“Say, what’s going on?” Said the former Adidas CEO to his microphone.

Former club president Uli Hoeneß, sitting in the first row, said, “It was the worst event I’ve ever had in FC Bayern.”

Earlier, the club reported a decline in income due to a coronavirus pandemic. Bayern recorded a pre-tax profit of € 5 million ($ 5.65 million) from a revenue of € 643.9 million (728 million) in 2020-21.

Other AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer When https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Ciarán Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP

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Bayern Munich’s annual meeting ends with a turmoil over Qatar’s sponsorship | National

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