Fans of the German football club Borussia Dortmund have opposed an advertising deal with arms manufacturer Rheinmetall.
At the team’s Bundesliga opener on August 24, protesting fans placed a replica tank outside the stadium.
They complained that they were not involved in the decision-making process ahead of the May deal. One activist wearing a mask with a likeness of Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger handed out red cards.
Before the game, the fans’ association Südtribüne Dortmund called on “every single Borussia fan … to bring their displeasure about the deal with Rheinmetall into the stadium”.
It said: “Feel free to prepare signs and/or banners with which you can express your criticism…”
At the start of the second half of the match against Eintracht Frankfurt, the fans’ association said that more than 90 fan groups had pledged their opposition.
Dortmund fans fell silent for a few minutes at the restart.
“We won’t let ourselves be harnessed to your tanks,” read a poster shown in the South stand.
Other banners had messages including: “No values? No conscience?”; and “Sh*t Rheinmetall-deal”.
“Money first, values second,” read another, while one claimed its values had been “rolled over by a tank.”
Dortmund won the game 2-0.
Gestern haben Borussia Dortmund-Fans im Stadion gegen die Rheinmetall-Kooperation des Vereins protestiert.
Auf den Plakaten stand:
„Wir lassen uns nicht vor euren Panzer spannen.“
„Kohle first, Werte second“
„Scheiß Rheinmetall“
„20 Mio.€ voll mit Blut.“
„Borussia… pic.twitter.com/6AEBIbP4BW
— Manaf Hassan (@manaf12hassan) August 25, 2024
In the announcement, Rheinmetall described itself as “defence and technology group”.
Chairman of Borussia Dortmund, Hans-Joachim Watzke, said of the deal: “Security and defence are fundamental cornerstones of our democracy. That is why we believe it is the right decision to take a very close look at how we protect these cornerstones. Especially today, when we see every day how freedom must be defended in Europe.
“We are looking forward to the partnership with Rheinmetall and, as Borussia Dortmund, are consciously opening ourselves up to a dialogue.”
Armin Papperger, Rheinmetall CEO said: “Rheinmetall has deep roots in the metropolitan Rhine-Ruhr region and wishes for its brand to be better known internationally too as a leading systems supplier for the defence industry and as a driver of industrial innovations in the civilian markets.”
But supporters do not see things the same way. “We firmly reject the fact that those responsible at BVB [Dortmund club] and all its committees have agreed to use the charisma of Borussia Dortmund to improve the public reputation of an armaments company and to throw their own values overboard in the process,” said a statement from the fan alliance.
Human rights organisations such as the German Peace Society – United Conscientious Objectors have said that arms companies should not sponsor football clubs. “A few years ago, Dortmund adopted a basic code of values that takes a stand against violence. Tanks are pure violence,” the managing director of the group, Schulze von Glaßer, said.
“Rheinmetall is a tank builder. And it wants to convince people in the stadium that tanks and weapons are a good thing. And we don’t think that’s good,” he said.
For this year, Rheinmetall has forecast record group sales of almost €10 billion.
It declared in February that it was building a new facility at its current location in Unterluess, in Northern Germany, with capacity to produce 200,000 artillery shells annually, 1,900 tonnes of explosives, and potentially rocket engines and warheads.
Rheinmetall is a crucial producer of ammunition and weapons for Ukraine, and for the rebuilding of the German army.
Western intelligence services reportedly foiled a Russian plot to murder Armin Papperger, the chief executive of Rheinmetall, Germany’s leading arms manufacturer. https://t.co/59l2C9tuND
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 12, 2024
