Fans continue to question Bayern Munich's silence on Qatar

Bayern fans have long been protesting the club's links to Qatar. Banners criticizing the team's management were often displayed at games before the Bundesliga was suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak (Reuters)
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Updated 27 March 2020
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Fans continue to question Bayern Munich's silence on Qatar

  • Bayern is sponsored by state-owned carrier Qatar Airways
  • Fans are unhappy with the apparent reticence to address workers’ conditions

BERLIN: Even though the protests have stopped amid the coronavirus outbreak, many Bayern Munich fans are still pushing for their club to take its Qatari sponsor to task for human rights abuses in the country.

Bayern is sponsored by state-owned carrier Qatar Airways and has been holding mid-season training camps in the Gulf country since 2011.

“It’s clear that the situation isn’t as it should be for workers in Qatar. Enough NGOs have complained that workers are dying in terrible conditions, that human rights are not being upheld,” Bayern fan Jonas Hagemeier told The Associated Press on Friday. “It’s not really a soccer issue as such, but an issue for society. Just we come into it because we are directly linked to it through FC Bayern.”

Hagemeier, a member of the Bayern Club No. 12 supporters group, said fans are unhappy with the apparent reticence to address workers’ conditions or highlight their plight.

“In the end, the club says it’s doing a lot but it does nothing,” Hagemeier said. “It damages the club’s reputation if it’s openly dealing with a country that does not recognize human rights, and if it’s constantly criticized for that.”

Bayern fans have long been protesting the club's links to Qatar. Banners criticizing the team's management were often displayed at games before the Bundesliga was suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak.

About 150 Bayern fans attended an event called "Qatar, human rights and FC Bayern” in Munich on Jan. 16. A podium discussion featured two migrant workers from Qatar, human rights activist Nicholas McGeehan of Fair/Square Projects and journalist Benjamin Best. The fans watched a documentary that Best filmed for German broadcaster WDR, documenting Nepalese workers' exploitation in Qatar and coffins arriving back in Nepal following their deaths.

Though invited, no representative from Bayern attended the meeting. Instead, a team jersey was placed on an empty chair to represent the club. Organizers received from no response from the club after the meeting, either.

One of the fans who attended the meeting, a member of the ultra group Munich’s Red Pride, was banned by Bayern from all games earlier this month, apparently for helping to display a banner protesting Monday night games at a reserve team game in February.

“There is a strong suspicion FC Bayern is using this banner to silence a critical fan whose group has constantly objected to the club’s engagement with Qatar. This cannot be accepted,” Club No. 12 said in a statement.

The campaign to highlight Bayern’s relationship with the gulf country was given added weight on March 11 when a group of Munich city councilors asked the club to urge Qatar to release detailed data on the deaths of migrant workers and to "commission an independent investigation into these deaths.”

An open letter from the councilors to Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter, a Bayern club member, urged the team “to make a commitment to comply with human rights standards in its business relationships.”

The councilors noted that Bayern receives 10 million euros ($11 million) a year from its five-year sponsorship arrangement with Qatar Airways. That deal was signed in 2018, replacing Bayern’s previous arrangement with Doha Airport.

The club is also linked to Qatar though Volkswagen subsidiary Audi, which has an 8.33% stake in the club. Qatar Holding LLC holds 14.6% of the shares in Volkswagen.

“Qatar uses the influence of soccer to adorn itself with the positive image of international clubs. The country has invested hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) in soccer clubs all across Europe,” wrote the councilors, who criticized Bayern’s management for being “silent” on the issue.

Qatar, which is due to host the World Cup in 2022, is also financially tied to European clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.

Fair/Square Projects welcomed the councilors’ call. The London-based human rights company has been waiting for a response since writing to Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Feb. 5 asking for the club to follow Liverpool’s example in calling for steps that would significantly enhance worker protection in the state.

“We believe it is highly probable that there have been more than 3,000 unexplained migrant worker deaths since Qatar won the right to host the World Cup in December 2010,” wrote McGeehan, the director at Fair/Square Projects.

Days after Bayern fans held banners protesting the club’s dealings with Qatar in the last game before the Bundesliga was suspended, World Cup organizers issued their annual workers’ welfare progress report on March 12. It said there were “a number of improvements” in the period from February to December 2019, including “timely payment of salaries, improved ethical recruitment practices, improved living conditions and enhanced health and safety initiatives.”

But in February, Human Rights Watch documented one employer who did not pay workers for five months, saying it showed “a systemic failure” that affects all employers in Qatar.

“Qatar has passed some laws to protect migrant workers, but the authorities seem more interested in promoting these minor reforms in the media than in making them work,” said Michael Page, the deputy Middle East director at HRW.

The club did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Separately, Bayern recently launched a “Red against Racism” campaign to combat racism in soccer. But McGeehan, who previously worked for HRW, questioned the club’s motivations.

“It's laudable that Bayern is taking intolerance and racism seriously, especially in the current climate," he said. "That said, this again highlights the tension between the values the club claims to espouse and its links to Qatar.”


Paul Waring shoots 61 in Abu Dhabi to set 36-hole record on European tour with 19-under par

Updated 31 sec ago
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Paul Waring shoots 61 in Abu Dhabi to set 36-hole record on European tour with 19-under par

ABU DHABI: Paul Waring hit the shot of his life to complete a career-low 11-under 61 in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday and establish a five-stroke lead heading into the weekend of the European tour’s first playoff event.
The No. 229-ranked Englishman hit a draw with a 3-wood from about 260 yards to inside 4 feet at No. 18 and tapped in the birdie putt to move to 19-under par for the tournament.
The European tour confirmed to The Associated Press that it is the lowest 36-hole score to par in the tour’s history.
Waring, who opened with a 64 on Thursday, made nine birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round at Yas Links and set a course record.
“I’ve got a nice lead at the moment but even before I tee off tomorrow, someone might have caught me,” said the 39-year-old Waring, whose sole win came at the Nordea Masters in 2018. “While I’m in the lead at the moment, and if we are rational about this, everyone is still going to fire a lot of
birdies in there.
“So if I’m going to be involved on Sunday afternoon, I’ve still got to keep going the way I am and I know that.”
First-round leader Tommy Fleetwood of England (68), Johannes Veerman of the United States (67) and Danish players Niklas Norgaard (65) and Thorbjorn Olesen (67) were tied for second place on 14 under.
Rory McIlroy hit his tee shot into a greenside bunker at the par-3 17th and made a triple bogey on the way to a second successive 67, leaving him nine strokes off the lead.
McIlroy, who can clinch a sixth Race to Dubai title with a win this week, was 7 under after 13 holes of his second round and feels he’ll need to produce something similar to reel in Waring and his closest chasers.
“I need the golf course to firm up a little bit and toughen up a little bit to have a chance,” McIlroy said. “There’s so many gettable holes out there.”


Zheng advances to WTA Finals championship match with semifinal win over Krejcikova

Updated 3 min 20 sec ago
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Zheng advances to WTA Finals championship match with semifinal win over Krejcikova

  • Zheng, 22, awaits top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka or third-seeded Coco Gauff in the final on Saturday

RIYADH: Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen became the first tournament debutante to reach the championship match at the WTA Finals since 2021 with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Barbora Krejcikova in Riyadh on Friday.

The seventh-seeded Zheng needed one hour and 40 minutes to overcome the Wimbledon champion in their semifinal encounter, firing nine aces along the way.
Zheng led 6-3, 3-0 before the eighth-seeded Krejcikova launched a comeback attempt but the Chinese star regained control of the match to make it two wins from two clashes with the Czech.
Zheng, 22, awaits top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka or third-seeded Coco Gauff in the final on Saturday, as she bids to become the first player to win the WTA Finals on her maiden appearance since Ashleigh Barty in 2019.
“It feels so special because this is my first WTA Finals and right now I’m in the final, which is unbelievable. She’s a really good player, today we gave a good match,” said Zheng.
“It was tricky because at 3-0 I think I dropped my performance; suddenly my performance went down, and she played more free and I was suddenly 3-4 down. I gave so much control to myself to not panic too much. It shows I was mentally strong in that moment.”
Zheng was near untouchable on serve in the 40-minute opening set, dropping just one point behind her first delivery en route to a 6-3 lead.
The Olympic champion broke twice for a 3-0 advantage in the second set and looked on her way to a comfortable victory.
But Krejcikova had other ideas and she halted Zheng’s momentum by attacking her second serve to grab the next four games and inch ahead for the first time in the contest.
It became a tug of war but it was Zheng who found an opening, breaking in game 12 to put herself in the position to serve for the match.
The fight wasn’t over yet as Zheng had to save a break point and saw a first match point slip away before she wrapped up the win on her second chance when a Krejcikova forehand sailed wide.
Since the event’s inauguration in 1972, Zheng is only the second Asian player to reach the decider at the WTA Finals after Li Na pulled off that feat in 2013.


PSG to curb political slogans in wake of ‘Free Palestine’ banner

Updated 42 min 48 sec ago
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PSG to curb political slogans in wake of ‘Free Palestine’ banner

  • PSG promised to “guarantee the absence of political messages” in the stands
  • “The club was not aware of the plan to display such a message“

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain say they will make sure there is no repeat of a midweek unfurling by fans of a banner proclaiming “Free Palestine.”
The huge banner covered an entire section of the stadium at the Parc des Princes Wednesday night ahead of PSG’s defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
As well as the slogan “Free Palestine,” the banner showed a bloodstained Palestinian flag, a gesticulating man with a keffiyeh scarf covering all his face except his eyes, the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and a young boy wrapped in the Lebanese flag.
On Friday, after a meeting with the French football federation and government officials, PSG promised to “guarantee the absence of political messages” in the stands.
“A frank and constructive dialogue made it possible to identify solutions that PSG is committed to putting in place from the next match at the Parc des Princes,” a government spokesperson told AFP.
The banner, which was unfurled by the Paris Ultras Collective (CUP) hard-core fan group, was shown above another slogan which read: “War on the pitch but peace in the world.”
“The club was not aware of the plan to display such a message,” PSG said in a statement Wednesday evening.


Al-Hilal win again to pile pressure on Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq

Updated 08 November 2024
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Al-Hilal win again to pile pressure on Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq

  • Three fine goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic, Malcom and Mohammed Al-Qahtani did the damage

RIYADH: Al-Hilal returned to the top of the Saudi Pro League on Friday, defeating Ettifaq 3-1 to rack up the pressure on under-fire coach Steven Gerrard.

Three fine goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic, Malcom and Mohammed Al-Qahtani did the damage as the champions moved a point clear of Al-Ittihad, who won 2–0 at Al-Orubah on Thursday. 

The loss means that Ettifaq, who started the season with three straight wins, have taken just one point from the last six games in the league. It may mean a nervous international break for Gerrard, though the Liverpool legend will know that this was a battling performance from his players, who just did not quite have the quality when needed.

While Ettifaq tried to keep it tight at the back, it was not all one-way traffic. Moussa Dembele had a couple of opportunities when the ball simply wouldn’t fall for him and Karl Toko-Ekambi shot just over from the left side, though it could have been a mishit cross.

All know, however, that you have to be ruthless and clinical when playing the 19-time Saudi champions as wastefulness is almost always punished. It took the Blues some time to get going but they started to look ominous as half-time approached.

Just before the break, Al-Hilal should have taken the lead. This season Mitrovic has been lethal inside the area and the league’s leading scorer was picked out in space near the penalty spot; the stadium held its breath but former Fulham teammate Marek Rodak got his foot to the low shot and Malcom fired the rebound wide.

Mitrovic didn’t miss in added time. Renan Lodi picked up possession on the left and the Brazilian then bent a beautiful low cross behind the Ettifaq defense and Mitrovic could not miss from inside the six-yard box for his 11th of the season.

Ettifaq were still very much in the game and ten minutes after the restart, Toko-Ekambi stretched for a low cross, and while the Cameroonian did make contact and forced a good save from Yassine Bounou, it was a great chance.

The easterners thought they were going to regret that as Mitrovic had the ball in the net once more but his close-range header was ruled out for offside. There was a lengthy VAR review but it only confirmed the referee’s original decision.

The second goal did come eventually, and when it did — in the 81st minute — it was one to remember, for the home fans at least. Malcolm was running in from the left side of the area when he was found by a smart backheel from Abdullah Al-Hamdan. The Brazilian then took the ball past the goalkeeper with his first touch and then rolled the ball home.

It seemed that there was no coming back from that — Hilal are not a team that gives up two-goal leads — but as injury time started, Ettifaq were handed a lifeline in the shape of a penalty, and up stepped Vitinho to place the ball into the bottom corner.

Unfortunately for the visitors, it served just to wake up the hosts, who quickly restored their two-goal lead, though Gerrard angrily told officials that Mitrovic had committed a foul in the build-up. The home fans enjoyed the goal, however, as Malcom fed Mohammed Al-Qahtani who turned 360 degrees to make a little space in the area and then fired a low shot home.

It got even worse for Ettifaq as Abdullah Radif was sent off for shoving Ali Al-Bulaihi in the neck. There really was no coming back from that.

All in all, it was a perfect evening’s work for Al-Hilal, even if Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard will be a little concerned that star man Salem Al-Dawsari seemed to pick up an injury — with the trip to Australia for a vital World Cup qualifier next Thursday.

Elsewhere, Al-Ahli bounced back from their defeat in the Jeddah Derby to defeat Al-Raed 2-0.


Paul Waring shoots 61 in Abu Dhabi to set 36-hole record on European tour with 19-under par

Updated 08 November 2024
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Paul Waring shoots 61 in Abu Dhabi to set 36-hole record on European tour with 19-under par

  • Waring, who opened with a 64 on Thursday, made nine birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round at Yas Links
  • Rory McIlroy made a triple bogey on No. 17 in his second successive 67

ABU DHABI: Paul Waring hit the shot of his life to complete a career-low 11-under 61 in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday and establish a five-stroke lead heading into the weekend of the European tour’s first playoff event.
The No. 229-ranked Englishman hit a draw with a 3-wood from about 260 yards to inside 4 feet at No. 18 and tapped in the birdie putt to move to 19-under par for the tournament.
The European tour confirmed to The Associated Press that it is the lowest 36-hole score to par in the tour’s history.
Waring, who opened with a 64 on Thursday, made nine birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round at Yas Links and set a course record.
First-round leader Tommy Fleetwood of England (68), Johannes Veerman of the United States (67) and Danish players Niklas Norgaard (65) and Thorbjorn Olesen (67) were tied for second place on 14 under.
Rory McIlroy made a triple bogey on No. 17 in his second successive 67 and was nine strokes off the lead.
McIlroy can clinch a sixth Race to Dubai title with a win this week.