Schalke’s position on the World Cup in Qatar
In a few days the World Cup will begin in Qatar – a fact which leads many fans and neutral observers to shake their heads in disbelief. FC Schalke 04 has a clear position: Qatar being awarded the biggest sporting event in the world in 2010 remains an historic mistake in the history of football.
That societal standards, particularly in relation to human rights, played no role in the awarding process is bitter and inexplicable for football, which should connect people and societies together. It contradicts the heart of Schalke’s mission statement.
FC Schalke 04 has therefore decided, to report solely, in a brief and factual way, on the games of Maya Yoshida. The club wishes Maya the greatest sporting success and an injury-free tournament. The Knappen also wish the Germany national team a successful tournament from a sporting perspective and appeal to the DFB at the same time, that they will make use of the publicity available to them during the tournament.
The club would like to use this Bundesliga-free time to devote all their channels and platforms to themes which the club consider more worthy of support than the World Cup:
For many at FC Schalke 04 the focus is on professional football. The performances of head coach Thomas Reis’ team take first place when fans and supporters talk about S04, and that is a good thing. However, FC Schalke 04 is much more. So much more. Lots of topics, as much as they are always being driven internally, have only found a small amount of publicity in this season so far – all of these themes, projects and measures will now get the focus and attention they deserve in the coming weeks.
We will report on the club’s work in relation to remembrance culture, take part in an action day against violence against women, focus on the issue of sustainability, discuss and work on participation at the club at the first member’s congress, give more time to the Knappenschmiede and women’s football, which carry out key work in youth and junior football, and report on our sporting departments and put a focus on child protection.
All these topics we consider more worthy of our support and coverage than the World Cup. From an S04 perspective, they highlight the values that the team stands for so much better. They are an expression of our self-identity – the identity of a club that stands for openness, tolerance, respect, fair play and equality.
We stand in solidarity with the people who are disadvantaged and oppressed in Qatar, and hope that our position – exactly like the position of other clubs, teams and initiatives – will sustainably improve their future, because people are more important than the World Cup.
