German football club Borussia Dortmund stripped former chancellor Gerhard Schröder of his honorary membership on Wednesday over his ties to Vladimir Putin and major Russian corporations, the BVB said on its website. .
The decision was taken unanimously by the management committee and club president Reinhard Rauball personally informed the former Social Democratic Chancellor (1998-2005), Borussia said.
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On Monday, the Ruhr club - current second in the Bundesliga - had already communicated on the subject, considering that it was "not acceptable in view of the Russian attack against Ukraine" that an honorary member of the BVB holds a leading position in a Russian state company.
Aged 77, Mr. Schröder displays his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He is chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, Russia's leading oil group, and of the shareholder committee of Nord Stream 2, a controversial Russian-German gas pipeline.
He should in principle join the supervisory board of the Russian giant Gazprom in June.
Unlike other former European leaders linked to Russian groups, such as Frenchman François Fillon or Italian Matteo Renzi, Mr.