German newspaper Bild has covered over FC Schalke 04’s Gazprom sponsorship with a message reading “Freedom for Ukraine.”
The tabloid paper has vowed to “stop advertising for Putin” in its newspaper and website in protest against Russia’s offences mounting thousands of troops on Ukraine’s border and recently recognising two separatist states.
Russian energy company Gazprom owns the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which was recently paused by Germany in response to Russia’s advances into Ukraine.
Bild wrote: “When Putin invades the neighboring country and denies it any right to exist, every border is crossed! Football cannot continue to concede unmoved as long as Putin is at war.”
Gazprom has served as a Uefa sponsor since 2012 while being a key advertising partner of Bundesliga team Schalke since 2007.
Prominent FC Schalke 04 fan and marketing expert Raphael Brinkert said the deal “was, and is, and remains a mistake”.
The club said in a statement that it was watching the “latest developments in eastern Europe with great concern” but added that Gazprom Germania had been a “reliable partner” for 15 years and officials were “in constant dialogue with our main sponsor”.
“Those responsible for the club are in constant dialogue with the long-standing main sponsor,” the Gelsenkirchen-based club said, stressing that it is “without question that the club is committed to peace and peaceful coexistence.”
Bild has joined a growing number of groups calling for Uefa - Europe’s football governing body - to cut ties with Gazprom after Vladimir Putin’s decision to order troops into Ukraine.
Chris Bryant, Labour MP who sits on the Commons foreign affairs select committee, told the Financial Times that Uefa should cut ties with Gazprom.
The crisis has forced Uefa to consider moving this season’s Champions League final from St Petersburg, while raising deeper questions about Gazprom’s longstanding sponsorship of European football.
Uefa is discussing its options for moving the final, set to take place at the Gazprom Arena in May, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The stadium hosted matches for the 2018 Fifa World Cup and Uefa’s Euro 2020 tournament.
Even before getting to the many political pressures and real-world consequences of two Uefa member countries being in conflict, there is likely to be the logistical issues of fans being banned by their countries from travelling to Russia.
Uefa now sees a contingency plan as essential, although there aren’t yet any concrete suggestions about venues. It is seen as unlikely, however, that the 2023 final could be brought forward from Istanbul, say, if two English clubs were involved.
“Uefa is constantly and closely monitoring the situation and any decision would be made in due course if necessary,” the governing body said. “Uefa has no further comments to make at present.”
