Fourteen of them are the main sponsors of the Red Devils: Adidas, Besix, BMW, Carrefour, Coca Cola, Connections, Côte d’Or, GLS, Herbalife, ING, Jupiler, Lotto, Proximus and PwC. A survey yielded a clear answer in thirteen cases: “We do not invite customers to the World Cup in Qatar.” In most cases, the reason is the human rights situation in Qatar, where homosexuality is also punishable by law and the woman is not equal to the man.
Inclusion
“We get questions from people who want to go to the World Cup with us”, Jeroen Lissens expresses BMW’s position. “We have done that in the past, but not this time. We support the Football Association’s view that sport can be a lever for change and inclusion, but we have decided not to invite customers and will not travel ourselves. Tessa Wullaert is our ambassador and has GRL PWR (girlpower, red.) standing on her car. So it’s a matter of consequence.”
In addition to BMW, Proximus, PwC, ING, GLS, Carrefour, Lotto and Côte d’Or also expressly say that none of the management and staff will travel to Qatar. The same goes for Connections and Herbalife, but they focus on the Red Flames anyway and had no intention of traveling with the Red Devils – apart from Qatar or any other country.
Football association neutral
Adidas also does not invite customers – it never did in the past – but will be present in Qatar for logistics reasons. “As the main sponsor of the Red Devils and as a supplier of the World Cup ball, we will be visible during the tournament,” says Frank Basters, senior PR manager at Adidas. Project developer Besix has a few projects in Qatar, but does not invite customers either. It didn’t do that at previous World Cups and European Championships either.
The football association reacts neutrally. “Every company has complete freedom. We cannot and do not want to impose anything,” said CEO Peter Bossaert, who assumed that some companies would fly along with the sponsored flight for the first game against Canada on November 23. It is still unclear what will happen to the sponsored flight.
© BELGIUM
