Football TuS Rumbach
Saudi Arabia is now sponsoring a district league team in the Palatinate Forest
Status: 12:19 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
The Saudi Consul General Mohammed Al Shalfan (r.) and his translator Lahcen El Azirhi (l.) with Andreas Langenberger, the chairman of the TuS Rumbach
Source: TuS Rumbach
TuS Rumbach from Rhineland-Palatinate plays in the district league. In the future, amateur footballers will wear advertisements for Saudi Arabia on their chests. The Saudi Consul General has also visited the province. What’s behind it?
It all started with a crazy idea. The lenders from Saudi Arabia have bought Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. And now they are joining an amateur football club from Germany. Andreas Langenberger, club boss at TuS Rumbach from Rhineland-Palatinate, couldn’t believe it: Last Friday, the Saudi Arabian Consul General Mohammed Ibrahim M. Alshalfan drove up to Rumbach – together with his wife, his two children and qualified translator Lahcen El Azirhi, he had traveled from Frankfurt.
“Until then, I thought that the hidden camera was still showing up somewhere,” remembers Langenberger, whose club plays in the C-Class Ost Pirmasens-Zweibrücken, the country’s lowest league, of the visit. Why is Saudi Arabia shirt sponsor at a provincial club like TuS Rumbach?
During the World Cup in Qatar, Langenberger got his first thoughts about it. “DFB and Fifa are pocketing millions at the World Cup in Qatar. And nobody has anything left for us small clubs anyway,” thought the club boss. In March 2023, he therefore wrote to several consulates and embassies and asked for support: “It was out of necessity, really the last idea. We are always at the minimum financial level and always have to see how we can make ends meet.” Langenberger had not told his wife or other colleagues from the club about his initiative. “They would have thought I was completely stupid.”
Andreas Langenberger, TuS Rumbach
Source: TuS Rumbach
In mid-April, the Saudi Arabian consulate in Frankfurt suddenly responded. The original act of desperation actually became serious. Consul General Alshalfan promised the club a new set of jerseys over the phone, which he recently handed over in person. “It’s a great opportunity for me to get to know a small club,” said Alshalfan in a stately manner during his visit to the village of 500 people.
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In return, Langenberger gave him the club chronicle, a pennant and five season tickets for the coming season. It will probably not have been the Consul General’s last visit to the C-League team. “When I drove in the car, I immediately felt this family life here. It’s not the last time we’ve been here,” said Alshalfan. With a smile, he added, “that one player from the club will make it big.”
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