In late 2021, Bayern Munich club member Michael Ott began waging an ultimately successful campaign to end an FCB sponsorship agreement with Qatar Airways. In the lead up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Ott argued that the human rights record of the country set to host football’s greatest showpiece rendered the sponsorship agreement immoral. 

Germans latched onto reports of human casualties in the construction of footballing stadiums in the lead up to the 2022 World Cup. Many Bundesliga supporters boycotted the tournament entirely. In his turn as Bayern’s administrative boss, Oliver Kahn ultimately acquiesced to Ott’s movement and the sponsorship agreement was terminated. 

After Kahn and then board-member-for-sport Hasan Salihamidzic were sacked on the final day of the 2022/23 Bundesliga season, however, Bayern club guardians Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (semi-retired) returned to re-shape the FCB front office into something they perceived to be more in line with their view of their pet project. 

Ott famously received a dressing down from Hoeneß during the October 2022 Bayern general meeting. Despite the fact that Hoeneß railed against Ott, calling him “an embarrassment trying to make the Bayern general meeting into the Amnesty International general assembly“, Ott attended and spoke again in 2023 to criticize Bayern’s sponsorship deal with the country of Rwanda. 

Ott wasn’t present during the autumn 2024 general meeting, but popped up again this weekend to question the moral validity of Bayern’s latest deal with the U.A.E’s Emirates Airlines. Board chairmen and club CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen openly mocked Ott – who was already subject to whistles and boos on his way to the podium – after his brief speech. 

Ott again accused Bayern of “buttressing the image sketchy political regimes that contradict our values” and said that the latest agreement with Emirates threatened to cause “lasting damage to the reputation of our club“. Ott mentioned that the U.A.E regime was known to support RSF militias, participants in Sudanese human rights atrocities. 

“Mr. Ott, it’s good to see you again,” Dreesen mockingly responded to loud applause at BMW Park. “I missed you last year. Maybe you were on vacation, but hopefully not on a flight. Of course, we look at every sponsor we take on. But we cannot, will not, and do not want to answer geopolitical questions that are the responsibility of politicians.  

“We stand by this partnership and will continue to do so in the future,” Dreesen continued when discussing the forthcoming six-year-pact with Emirates. “Professional sport ultimately depends on us being able to pay for it.“