DORTMUND, Germany — Borussia Dortmund fans plan to kick off the Bundesliga season with massive protests against the club's sponsorship deal with German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall.
“We will not be led by your example,” the Dortmund supporters' association Südtribüne Dortmund said in a statement on Wednesday on behalf of more than 90 Dortmund fan groups.
“We firmly reject the idea that the management and boards of directors of BVB have agreed to use the appeal of Borussia Dortmund to improve the public image of an arms company and throw their own values overboard in the process.”
Dortmund announced the signing of a three-year sponsorship deal with Düsseldorf-based Rheinmetall on May 29, three days before the team was due to play Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Rheinmetall is the world's largest maker of artillery ammunition and expects to post record sales of around 10 billion euros ($11.1 billion) this year. Trade has been boosted by conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere.
In February, it announced the construction of a new factory at its existing site in Unterluess, northern Germany, with annual production capacity for 200,000 artillery shells, 1,900 tonnes of explosives and possibly rocket motors and warheads.
Founded in 1889 as the “Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik Actiengesellschaft”, the company was one of the largest arms manufacturers in Germany during both World Wars. During World War II, it used forced labour.
The news of Rheinmetall's sponsorship of Dortmund was “a bombshell”, according to Südtribüne, which claimed that fan representatives were not consulted at any point during the negotiations.
“The moment [of the announcement] “This suggests that reactions to this controversial decision were deliberately intended to be overshadowed by information about the Champions League final,” the group said. “The negative effects on fans were consciously taken into account.”
The Südtribüne has called on all Dortmund fans attending Saturday's home game against Eintracht Frankfurt to voice their opposition to the deal.
“Please prepare posters and/or banners with which you can express your criticism at the start of the second half,” the Südtribüne said.
Organisers of a petition against the deal announced they would protest outside the stadium with a tank decorated in Dortmund colours and an activist dressed as Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger. They said they would put up posters around the stadium and hand out leaflets.
Dortmund president Hans-Joachim Watzke previously defended the deal.
“When we see every day how freedom must be defended in Europe, we must face this new normal,” Watzke said.
