DFB interim president Hans-Joachim Watzke has suggested support for Schalke 04 should the German second division soccer team separate from its controversial Russian main sponsor Gazprom. “If this also requires the solidarity of the other clubs in Germany in order to get them out of this situation reasonably well, then we have to discuss how we can do it,” said Watzke to the ZDF “Sportstudio”.
Watzke, who is also the managing director of Schalke’s archrival Borussia Dortmund, called the Gelsenkircheners an “important part of German football culture and German football”. The 62-year-old added: “I am very, very happy that the new management is now showing a clear attitude. And in the end, I think, that can only lead to ending this sponsorship.”
No sponsor print on the shirts
Schalke had already announced on Thursday after the Russian attack on Ukraine that they would no longer wear the logo of the main Russian sponsor. It had previously become known that the businessman Matthias Warnig, who had been sanctioned by the USA in the wake of the Ukraine conflict, had resigned from the Schalke supervisory board. Warnig is the CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG, which is a subsidiary of the Russian energy company Gazprom.