After controversial Qatar statements
FC Bayern fans protest against Hoeneß
09/30/2022, 11:07 p.m
Uli Hoeness spoke up angrily in last week’s football talk show “Doppelpass” and defended the Winter World Cup in Qatar. For his statements, he is now getting a lot of opposition from the FC Bayern fans. Protest banners are shown in the Bundesliga game against Leverkusen.
FC Bayern fans used the Bundesliga game against Bayer Leverkusen to protest against statements made by Honorary President Uli Hoeneß about World Cup hosts Qatar. “State visits, training camps, thousands of deaths to celebrate the World Cup… It’s only better for your own conscience, Uli H.!” Was the banner. Last weekend, Hoeneß defended the World Cup host Qatar, which was controversial because of the human rights situation and the situation for foreign workers, against criticism in the Sport1 show “Doppelpass”.
“The World Cup and the commitment of FC Bayern and other sports activities in the Gulf region will mean that the working conditions for the workers there will get better and not worse. You should finally accept that and not constantly hit people,” Hoeneß said when he called the show. The 70-year-old fought a war of words with former DFL managing director Andreas Rettig. The 59-year-old longtime Bundesliga manager and Hoeneß had exchanged verbal blows for around five minutes. Hoeneß had sided with World Cup hosts Qatar. Rettig is a proven critic of the World Cup finals in the emirate on the Persian Gulf.
“If the shareholders of a company decide to sell shares to Qatar, you can criticize that. But then that’s the decision of the shareholders. The biggest shareholders of FC Bayern are the members. If they reject such a commitment, that’s it accept. For FC Bayern, the vote of its members seems to be of secondary importance,” emphasized Rettig afterwards. The differences of opinion between him and Hoeneß, who was head of the “Attack Department” for many years as FC Bayern manager, are no coincidence, says Rettig: “That happens when a Qatari lobbyist meets someone who is committed to human rights.”
The state airline Qatar Airways is one of the major sponsors of the Bavarians, who want to have their winter training camp in the emirate again this season. This business relationship has been a hot topic in the fan scene for a long time. In autumn 2021, the topic caused a dispute at a general meeting and ultimately chaos. At the beginning of July, FC Bayern invited to a round table. The Qatari government rejects the criticism. The finals will kick off on November 20th. The final is scheduled for December 18th.
