Rewe refuses football advertising
2022.11.22 11:12
Rewe refuses football advertising
Budrigannews.com – After the global governing body of soccer cracked down on players wearing “OneLove” armbands in support of diversity at the Qatar World Cup, the major grocery chain Rewe decided to end its advertising partnership with the German Football Association (DFB).
After FIFA threatened to issue yellow cards to any player wearing the multicolored armband at the World Cup, Rewe, one of the largest supermarket chains in Germany with group-wide annual sales of 76.5 billion euros ($78.5 billion), became the first sponsor to take action.
Adidas, a German sportswear companyand automobile manufacturer Volkswagensaid that they would each keep their deals with the DFB, despite the fact that they both said they supported diversity.
The case is the latest problem for sponsors of the World Cup in Qatar, a country where homosexuality is against the law and where authorities have been criticized for killing migrant workers who helped build stadiums.
It comes after FIFA’s latest possible moment choice on Friday not to permit brew to be sold at Qatar’s Reality Cup arenas, managing a catastrophe for lager producer Stomach muscle InBev, a backer of the competition.
“We support variety – and football is likewise variety.Lionel Souque, chief executive of the Rewe Group, stated, “We live this position and we defend it.”The scandalous attitude of FIFA cannot be tolerated.”
The decision reflects the negative attitude that Germans have toward the tournament both online, where the hashtag BoycottQatar2022 is currently trending in Germany on Twitter, and on the ground, where protests have taken place, such as on Sunday, when a German stadium lit 20,000 candles in memory of the migrant workers who died in Qatar.
According to a survey conducted by the University of Hohenheim on Monday, nearly half of Germans support sponsors and politicians boycotting the tournament, and more than two thirds of them consider it unnecessary for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to attend the tournament.
Rewe claimed that it had informed the DFB in October that it did not want to continue their partnership. However, following the armband decision, Rewe wanted to clearly distance itself from FIFA’s position and give up its advertising rights under their agreement.
“The current events did not cause the DFB sponsorship with REWE to be terminated.A spokesperson for the DFB stated, “Please note that REWE and the DFB agreed weeks ago that the contract would not be extended.” The contract runs out at the end of the year.
“We are persuaded that sport must be accessible to everyone.””The discussion must continue,” Adidas stated in a statement.
FIFA’s actions were described as “unacceptable” by Volkswagen.
A spokesperson for the automobile manufacturer stated on Tuesday, “The discussions and reactions show that something fundamental needs to change in world football.”
In its own right, Deutsche Telekom (OTC:)declared that it would discuss the armbands controversy with the DFB.
Nancy Faeser, the German interior and sports minister, stated that FIFA’s decision was a “big mistake that tears the hearts of the fans” and that she would address this matter while in Doha. Faeser is scheduled to travel to Qatar later in the day.
“I think it’s important that we continue to discuss human rights with the decision makers there,” Faeser stated. “It’s a difficult road.”
The “OneLove” armband would be worn by team captains in Qatar, according to several soccer associations.However, following FIFA’s warning, associations from Germany, England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Denmark announced on Monday that they would abandon those plans.
On Tuesday, the DFB stated that associations supporting the armband were subjected to “extreme blackmail” and that it had abandoned plans for players to wear it because it was unfair for them to bear the consequences.
Rewe announced that it would begin giving away World Cup-themed sticker albums for free and would donate any sales proceeds to charity.
In a snub to Qatar, Lucozade, a beverage manufacturer and England sponsor, reportedly withdrew all of its branding from the World Cup.
On Monday, FIFA said that its own “No Discrimination” campaign had been moved up from the quarterfinals stage so that all 32 team captains could wear their own armbands during the tournament.
With more than seven million current members, the DFB is the largest soccer federation in the world.Lufthansa and Commerzbank are two additional partners of DFB (ETR:).
($1 = 1.2840 euros)
