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In 2011, FC Bayern traveled to a training camp in Qatar for the first time
Photo:
Peter Kneffel / picture alliance / dpa
FC Bayern expect the best conditions.
The weather forecast for the kick-off of the final at the Club World Cup in the evening (7 p.m. / Dazn) is: 18 degrees.
In addition, a perfectly trimmed lawn in the Education City Stadium in Doha, one of the World Cup venues from 2022. Ideal conditions for the Champions League winner, after the historic success of 2020 with a final victory over the Mexican outsiders from UANL Tigres, the sixth and last track.
Outside of the football field, however, FC Bayern in Qatar is once again on extremely sensitive territory.
Because the criticism of the business relations of Munich with the emirate on the Persian Gulf does not end.
It's a story about fan protests and an ongoing legal process, objections from human rights organizations, but also about what FC Bayern says about all of this and what it really does.
In 2011, the club traveled to Qatar for the first time during the winter break.
It was the beginning of a problematic partnership with a country that, as the permanent host of the 2022 World Cup since 2010, was criticized for disregarding human rights.
In January 2016, Doha's Hamad International Airport became a platinum partner of FC Bayern, and from summer 2017 it will also be a sleeve sponsor on players' jerseys.
The 2018 deal caused a stir when the club ended its 16-year partnership with Lufthansa and instead switched to Qatar Airways.
The state airline paid significantly more each year.
Qatar Airways also replaced Doha Airport as sleeve sponsor.
Since then, FC Bayern has been co-financed by a state that likes to be willing to develop, but about which Qatar expert Regina Spöttl from Amnesty International tells SPIEGEL today: “The general human rights situation in Qatar still leaves a lot to be desired.
The authorities have recently tightened restrictions on the right to freedom of expression.
Women continued to be disadvantaged before the law and in daily life, particularly in family law.
In addition, migrant workers who work in private households are still exploited, harassed and harassed.
After a 20-year hiatus, executions took place again. "
As the lynchpin of human rights violations in Qatar, Amnesty International criticizes the "Kafala" system, the excessive power of employers over subordinate workers.
The result: arbitrariness, reprisals, and repression.
"Blood money from Qatar"
FC Bayern received clear criticism from its own fans.
When the arena in the north of Munich was still full in pre-Covid times, posters on the subject were regularly hung in the south curve.
Sometimes there was talk of the “ugly face of FC Bayern” and “blood money from Qatar”.
And the protest doesn't stop: A week ago there was also a poster in the outside area of the arena, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and President Herbert Hainer clamped in front of a sheik's cart.
In a written statement on Monday, the association of all Bayern fan clubs, "Club No. 12", criticized the connections between FC Bayern and the desert state and asked the club to enter into a dialogue.
SPIEGEL spoke for a long time on the phone with a critical fan who, according to his own words, has been bothered for years by the fact that the club positions itself on the one hand for diversity and tolerance, for a colorful atmosphere and against racism, but on the other hand does business with a state in which Freedom rights wouldn't count for much.
The fan does not want to appear in public with his name.
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Winter training camp in Qatar
Photo: Peter Kneffel / picture alliance / dpa
Because there is the case of another supporter who took FC Bayern to court because of a life ban imposed by the club on him.
In February 2020, the fan held a banner at the third division game between Bayern II and Halleschen FC.
It read: "Bayern amateurs against Monday games".
A little later he received mail from FC Bayern stating that he was being banned from the house "for illegally bringing in and using the banner".
This was justified with a violation of the fire protection regulations and because the poster had not been approved in advance by the club.
What does this have to do with Qatar?
A few weeks earlier, in January 2020, the fan had helped to organize a panel discussion entitled: "Qatar, Human Rights & FC Bayern: Open your mouth, shut your mouth?" Participants included two Nepalese guest workers, who spoke of exploitation and inhumane conditions in Qatar.
In addition, the fan had requested an expansion of the association's statutes at the 2019 general meeting in order to anchor compliance with human rights in accordance with the guidelines of the United Nations.
At that time, he was not heard by the top of the club.
Should a critical fan be silenced?
Both the supporter and his lawyer, Andreas Hüttl, suspect that the comparatively harmless anti-Monday game banner was a pretext to banish an unwelcome critic.
"On that day, 25 people held the poster and my client was the only one to be picked," Hüttl tells SPIEGEL, "that leads to the assumption that it has something to do with his criticism of the club's relations with Qatar." The club explains In response to a request from SPIEGEL, “FC Bayern cannot yet comment because the process has not yet been concluded”.
A continuation of the hearing before the Munich district court is due in April.
Bayern often responded to criticism from fans and human rights organizations by saying that conditions in Qatar would change.
"Since Bayern Munich has been a partner of Qatar, there has been evidence of positive developments in terms of human and labor rights," said CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge at the club's annual general meeting in 2019.
However, Qatar has also committed itself to the world football association Fifa to implement reforms.
Qatar expert Regina Spöttl from Amnesty International also sees signs of change.
The »Kafala« system was to be abolished by new labor protection laws introduced in 2020: This related to working conditions for domestic staff, a new minimum wage and a system to control wages.
"These reforms raise hope, but must be strictly monitored and adhered to," says Spöttl.
Sport could play a role here.
As early as November 2020, she stated that the international attention through the 2022 World Cup had at least partially improved the situation of local workers.
"Sport builds bridges and can achieve a lot," says Spöttl.
"It would be nice if as many influential actors as possible could stand up for human rights."
Change of statutes in planning
What does FC Bayern say about the criticism today?
When asked, the club said: “In response to its involvement in Doha, FC Bayern said from the start that it would also like to have a dialogue with its partners on issues such as social values.
Such conversations do not take place on the public stage, but in a confidential atmosphere, in which it is about openness and - even if there are different opinions - about mutual respect. " would exist, the club continued.
And with reference to the podium event in January 2020, at which no club representative appeared: "If the only goal is to distinguish points of view that are effective for the audience from other positions through elected discussion partners, FC Bayern will not participate."
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Bayern coach Hansi Flick in Doha
Photo: Peter Kneffel / picture alliance / dpa
In addition, the club refers to an exchange with the German embassy in Doha and Amnesty International.
Talks with the office manager of the International Labor Organization (ILO), a sub-organization of the United Nations that campaigns for improved workers' rights in Doha, should also take place regularly.
However, the ILO is also to be co-financed by Qatar.
However, nothing more is known about the content or results of these discussions.
The women of FC Bayern, who traveled to the training camp in Qatar for the first time in 2018, set a symbolic symbol that was appreciated even by critical fans when they joined the “Equality Program” organized by the “Qatar Women's Sport Committee” for the equality of women in Qatari sport as well as in society.
The relationship between FC Bayern and Qatar is also present in local politics in Munich.
On Wednesday, Mayor Dieter Reiter answered a collective request from ten city councilors about the partnership with the emirate.
Reiter, who also sits on the administrative advisory board of FC Bayern München eV, said on the subject of human rights: "It goes without saying that the club feels committed to these rights." A commission is currently working on a revision of the FC Bayern München eV statutes, said Reiter .
So it could happen what the excluded fan demanded a year ago.
The contract with Qatar Airways runs until 2023, so FC Bayern will probably continue to travel to the winter training camp in Doha for that long.
Protests will probably continue.
It remains a sensitive area.
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