Borussia Dortmund’s sponsorship deal with major arms maker set for heated debate at club’s AGM

By The Associated Press

FILE - A dummy tank stands next to an activist wearing a mask with the likeness of Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger and holding up a red card ahead of the soccer game between Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt, in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday Aug. 24, 2024. (Bernd Thissen/dpa via AP, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Bernd Thissen]

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund’s sponsorship deal with an arms maker profiting from wars in Ukraine and elsewhere looks set to be a major topic for discussion at the club’s AGM on Sunday.

The Schwatzgelb Dortmund fanzine has published a motion from fan Wilfried Harthan on behalf of the Heinrich Czerkus supporters’ group calling on the club to terminate the deal with Rheinmetall “as soon as possible”, and that it should not be extended beyond the end of its term in 2026 “under any circumstances.”

Rheinmetall is the world’s largest maker of artillery ammunition and expects to make record group sales of around 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion) this year. Trade has been helped by conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Schwatzgelb says on its website that the three-year collaboration with Rheinmetall announced by the club last May was a huge surprise for most fans, coming three days before their team lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

The deal “has since shaped the club’s external image. For many Schwartzgelbe (Dortmund fans), it calls their identification as members of Borussia Dortmund into question,” Schwatzgelb said.

Many Dortmund fans already showed their opposition to the deal with protests around and during the team’s first Bundesliga game of the season in August.

Rheinmetall in February announced the construction of a new factory at its existing site in Unterluess in northern Germany, with annual production capacity for 200,000 artillery shells, 1,900 tons of explosives, and possibly rocket engines and warheads.

“Those who manufacture weapons of war do not profit from peace, but from war,” Schwatzgelb said.

Founded in 1889 as “Rheinische Metallwaaren- und Maschinenfabrik Actiengesellschaft,” the Düsseldorf-based company was one of Germany’s biggest armaments manufacturers during both World Wars. It made use of forced labor during World War II.

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