Axel Hellmann, Spokesman of the Board of Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball-AG
Image: dpa
The Frankfurt soccer club demands that “premium sponsor” Kaspersky distance himself from the war in Ukraine. If this does not happen, Eintracht wants to “end the contract immediately”.
Axel Hellmann, spokesman of the board of Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball-AG, explained the attitude of the Bundesliga soccer club to its Russian sponsor Kaspersky to the FAZ: “Immediately after the invasion of Russian troops into the Ukraine, we sought a conversation with the management of Kaspersky to to learn Kaspersky’s position on the Russian war of aggression. Since we were obviously not able to be given a clear, coordinated position throughout the company before the Bayern game, we agreed with the management of the Germany, Austria and Switzerland region to suspend the contract until further notice. That’s why there was no advertising at the home game against FC Bayern.” There has been a contractual agreement between the club and the Russian cyber security company since 2018.
Hellmann continues: “We have also made it clear that we expect a clear distancing from any acts of war in the short term this week. If this does not happen, we will terminate the contract immediately. We are aware that Kaspersky is an international, purely private company that should be viewed differently from a Russian state-owned company like Gazprom. However, due to its roots and ties to the Russian home market, and to avoid any doubt as to Kaspersky’s credibility and independence, our clear call for a clear anti-war stance is necessary and unavoidable.”
On Monday evening, the last reference to “premium sponsor” Kaspersky was removed from Eintracht’s official club homepage.
