LONDON – German football club Bayern Munich is currently reviewing the renewal of its sponsorship with Qatar Airways.
Further reviews need to take place amongst some concerns over alleged human rights issues in Qatar, especially during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Bayern CEO: Talks Will Begin Now…
In an interview with German media outlet Bild, Bayern Munich’s CEO Oliver Kahn said the following on contract renewals:
“We will start the talks now”.
“First of all, it will be a matter of taking stock and then re-assessing each other’s interests. We will discuss sporting, financial and social issues.”
“We won’t be giving real-time updates.”
Previous Controversy with Bayern Munich…
The sponsorship deal between Qatar Airways and Bayern Munich has caused controversy within Germany. The airline became a platinum partner of the football club back in 2018.
At the football club’s annual general meeting back in 2021, there were boos and chants for ties with Qatar Airways to be ended, especially as the airline is state-owned.
The German National Football Team was going to wear a “One Love” armband in support of diversity and the ongoing human rights violations.
Still, it was reversed due to pressure and threats of sanctions from FIFA.
The Bayern Munich squad is currently in Doha for their annual winter training program, whilst there is a break in the Bundesliga.
Qatar Airways & FIFA World Cup 2022…
With Qatar Airways being the main sponsor for the FIFA World Cup 2022, this threw the airline into the spotlight amongst the social concerns in the region.
As the World Cup came to an end, Qatar Airways did experience a significant uptick in traffic over the course of the tournament.
Qatar Airways has been in the same position as Hamad International Airport in terms of continued and consistent growth.
The airline did experience somewhat of a surge, but it wasn’t in the outlying context of the old DIA.
For December 10-17, the airline handled 504 movements, an increase of 3.70% compared to the same period last year.
Such a percentage increase has dwindled the further the tournament has developed, which isn’t too surprising as the airline restores itself back to pre-Tournament operations.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data from the airline, and it is clear where you can begin to see the percentage increases:
| Date | 2021 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2022 vs. 2021) |
| November 12-19 | 461 movements | 516 movements | +11.93% |
| November 19-26 | 472 movements | 522 movements | +10.59% |
| November 26-December 3 | 468 movements | 512 movements | +9.40% |
| December 3-10 | 482 movements | 499 movements | +3.53% |
This data does exemplify the above points about movement numbers dwindling down as fans eventually go home if they were knocked out of the tournament.
However, we would need to look at other carriers that may have increased services in Hamad and Doha, respectively. Still, again such differences would be minimal as opposed to the actual additional revenue created.
Even so though, with Qatar Airways being the sponsor of the tournament, this World Cup will no doubt offer additional exposure to the carrier going into the future.
Looking ahead, it’s going to be interesting to see whether Bayern Munich decides to renew its obligations with Qatar Airways or bow to public pressure.
