Bundesliga
Bayern Munich’s AGM ends in tumult over Qatar sponsorship
Bayern Munich’s annual general meeting ended in tumult with members yelling and booing the club’s directors for refusing to discuss its sponsorship arrangements with Qatar.
“We are Bayern! You are not!” irate fans chanted at club president Herbert Hainer, chief executive Oliver Kahn and other presidium members late Thursday. “We are the fans that you don’t want!”
Tempers frayed following club member Michael Ott’s unsuccessful attempt to lodge a motion calling for a vote on Bayern’s contentious sponsorship agreements with Qatar. Ott, and many other Bayern fans, contend that the partnership with Qatar Airways through 2023 is damaging the club’s reputation because of alleged human rights abuses in the Persian Gulf country as it prepares to host next year’s World Cup.
Ott’s initial attempt was blocked on technical grounds because of a club statute by Munich district court, but he had hoped to put it forward anyway with the support of more than 75% of the members at the AGM.
Bayern vice president Dieter Meyer disagreed.
“You’re welcome to boo. I’m not going to allow us vote on illegal motions here,” Meyer said, referring to the local court’s previous decision.
Ott said the Bayern club officials should have allowed the members discuss the merits of the motion “and then maybe just do a non-binding survey.”
“Whether it was legally OK or not to refuse the vote on this motion, it would have been a question of good character to at least allow me to hold my speech that I had prepared,” Ott told The Associated Press on Friday.
Meyer said Ott was welcome to go back to court to fight his case, prompting a chorus of boos, whistles and shouts from the majority of members attending.
“I had a prepared a 15- to 20-minute speech,” Ott told the AP. “I wanted to lay out for all the problems that exist in Qatar and … why it is in itself wrong to do a sponsorship deal with Qatar. It’s just distracting from the problems in Qatar, and not at all helping to bring change to Qatar. All the experts say if you want to change something there, it’s only possible with public pressure. And that’s the thing that FC Bayern never wants to do.”
At a Bundesliga game on Nov. 6, Bayern fans displayed a huge banner criticizing the club for the “sports washing” of human rights abuses in Qatar through its partnership with Qatar Airways. The club has also been holding mid-season training camps in Qatar since 2011.
The banner depicted Kahn and Hainer laundering blood-stained clothes in a washing machine under the words, “For money, we’ll wash anything clean.”
Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann defended the club’s stance at the time, saying it tried “to influence things through dialogue and not by exclusion or looking the other way.”
Ott said Bayern’s claims of achieving change through confidential talks is “phony.” In August, Amnesty International accused Qatari officials of doing little to investigate thousands of young migrant workers’ deaths in the country over the past decade.
“We need to change our statutes to make sure that we can vote on hot topics,” said Ott, who has been a club member since 2007.
He said the response he has received from fellow Bayern supporters has been mostly positive.
“I had a priest who wrote to me today, a mayor wrote me, and lots of people are encouraging me to continue the fight,” Ott said.
Only 780 members from a possible 1,700 attended the club’s AGM because of strict coronavirus restrictions in Bavaria, which is going through a surge in infections. Those attending reacted furiously when Hainer abruptly ended the meeting despite other members waiting their turn to speak.
News agency dpa reported that one member simply stood on a chair and spoke without a microphone, while most fans present reacted with shouts of “Hainer out! Hainer out!”
Hainer appeared surprised by the reaction.
“Say, what’s going on?” the former Adidas chief executive said into his microphone.
Former club president Uli Hoeneß, who had been sitting the first row, said it was “the worst event that I have ever experienced at FC Bayern.”
Earlier, the club reported a drop in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic. Bayern still recorded a pre-tax profit of 5 million euros ($5.65 million) from revenue of 643.9 million euros (728 million) for 2020-21.
-AP
A masked fan unplugged a VAR monitor during a German second division match on Sunday in an audacious act of sabotage that left the referee looking at a blank screen when he was called to review a potential penalty.
The bizarre incident unfolded during the Bundesliga 2 clash between Preussen Muenster and visiting Hertha Berlin, when referee Felix Bickel was summoned to the pitchside monitor only to discover that someone had yanked out the power plug.
According to Muenster’s website, a masked supporter had infiltrated the interior and unplugged the VAR monitor, sabotaging the review process. German media reported that at the same time, home fans displayed a banner reading “Pull the plug on VAR”.
With Bickel unable to view the replay, VAR official Katrin Rafalski in Cologne was forced to make the decision remotely, ruling that the challenge was indeed a foul, prompting Bickel to award the penalty, which Hertha duly converted.
The Berlin side eventually won the match 2–1 with a stoppage-time goal.
Muenster later said the incident appeared to have been a planned action and that the club would do everything in its power to identify those responsible.
-Reuters
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German football powerhouse Borussia Dortmund has officially launched the BVB International Academy Ghana, marking the club’s first international academy on the African continent.
The academy, which will commence operations in Accra in February 2026, is based at Achimota School and has been established in partnership with Accra Shooting Stars FC. It is designed to provide structured football development for boys and girls aged 6 to 18.
In a statement announcing the project, Dortmund described the initiative as a major milestone for youth football development in Ghana and part of the club’s expanding global academy network.
Young players enrolled at the academy will be trained under Borussia Dortmund’s internationally recognised methodology, which emphasises discipline, leadership, education, nutrition and holistic personal development, while remaining aligned with Ghana’s vibrant football culture.
Benedikt Scholz, Director of Internationalisation and Commercial Partnerships and Managing Director of the BVB Football Academy, said the launch reflects the Bundesliga side’s longstanding relationship with Ghana, forged through former players such as Otto Addo and Ibrahim Tanko.
He described the academy as a “strong statement” of intent and noted that the club’s objective is to build sustainable youth development structures in close cooperation with local partners.
Academy Director Teddy Hiadzi explained that the project is inclusive by design, offering pathways for both recreational and elite players.
“Every child’s football journey is different,” Hiadzi said, adding that the academy’s priority is to provide quality coaching, clear developmental structures and a safe environment for growth on and off the pitch.
Former Dortmund midfielder and Black Stars legend Ibrahim Tanko has been appointed ambassador of the BVB International Academy Ghana. He described the academy as a special opportunity for young Ghanaian talents, noting that the country’s passion for football makes it an ideal environment to instil the mindset and discipline required to succeed at the highest level.
The BVB International Academy Ghana will operate as an official member of Dortmund’s global International Academy network, which already includes academies across Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean. Enrolment for the first intake is underway, with information sessions and football camps scheduled in collaboration with local schools.
The launch further strengthens Dortmund’s footprint in Africa and underscores Ghana’s growing reputation as a hub for structured youth football development on the continent.
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Bayer Leverkusen kept pace with Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich by beating Hoffenheim 3-1 on Sunday with goals from Victor Boniface, Patrik Schick and Jeremie Frimpong.
Leverkusen finished with 10 players after Álex Grimaldo’s sending off with half an hour to play. New signings Emiliano Buendía and Mario Hermoso made their debuts as Xabi Alonso’s team stayed six points behind Bayern two weeks before the top two clash in Leverkusen.
Bayern defeated Holstein Kiel on Saturday.
Boniface scored with his first shot at goal since his proposed move to Saudi team Al-Nassr collapsed. The Nigeria forward started for his first game since early November after recovering from a thigh injury, and he scored in the 15th minute with a shot that Hoffenheim ’keeper Luca Philipp should arguably have stopped.
Frimpong made it 2-0 four minutes later after Aleix García sent the Dutch wing back through.
Then Robin Braun became the first referee to announce a VAR call to fans in a Bundesliga game when a penalty he awarded to Nathan Tella for a foul by Hoffenheim defender David Jurasek was taken back — video replays showed the Leverkusen attacker was coming from an offside position before he was fouled.
Leverkusen’s match was among five in the 20th round trialling the NFL-style announcements, a change league officials hope will make the much-maligned VAR system more popular among fans.
Buendía went on for the injured Tella to make his Bundesliga debut before the break, and Schick went on for Boniface after it.
Buendía surged through the Hoffenheim defence only to see his shot saved by Philipp, but Schick was there to tuck away the rebound for 3-0 in the 51st. It was the Czech forward’s 14th league goal of the season.
Then Grimaldo was shown red in the 61st when Hoffenheim substitute Gift Orban went on for the visitors. Orban pulled a goal back a minute later.
Buendía made way for Hermoso to compensate for Grimaldo’s sending off. Though tempers flared at times, Leverkusen’s 10 men contained the visitors for the rest of the game.
Third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt drew with Wolfsburg 1-1 in the early game.
-AFP
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