ImpACT International | Borussia Dortmund must reconsider deal with arms maker Rheinmetall

Courtesy of: The Independent

Borussia Dortmund, Germany's second biggest football club, has announced a three-year sponsorship deal with arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, ahead of tonight's Champions League final match against Real Madrid.

impACT International echoes German Peace Society opposition to this agreement; Arms manufacturers, who make profits by making weapons that kill or injure people, destroy neighborhoods and livelihoods, should not sponsor a football team, especially one with such global influence . According to reports, the sponsorship will not appear on the players' jerseys, it will be present on advertising boards at Signal Iduna Park, the club's home ground, and at their training ground.

It is important to note that the presence of such advertising could violate the rules of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). UEFA states that its “primary objective, which is to promote football, is in line with the fundamental principles of the UDHR, including anti-discrimination, gender equity, child safety, inclusion and 'accessibility', allowing a company that profits from killing, mutilating and destroying the antithesis of these values.

In a statement on the deal, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger declared that the arms manufacturer and Dortmund have “similar ambitions, attitudes and origins” and that both organizations were “seeking excellence and international success”.

Rheinmetall

According to SIPRI, the German state is a global leader in the export of military equipment, accounting for 5.6% of the global export market between 2019-2023. Rheinmetall, as the country's largest arms and munitions producer, is therefore deeply embedded in Germany's international arms trade commitments and relies heavily on it to honor a plethora of these agreements. The recent outbreak of global conflict has had a significant impact on Rheinmetall's stock price and earnings, with the latter increasing 60% in the first quarter of 2024.

Widely attributed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Rheinmetall has become an important supplier as “Western governments build up their militaries and replenish their stockpiles after supplying substantial quantities of weapons to kyiv.” Demand is high and sustained, with Reuters reporting that Rheinmetall has an order book of up to 40.2 billion euros, a growth of 43%.

The German state is Israel's second largest arms supplier, behind the United States, supplying 30% of Israeli imports between 2019 and 2023. Rarely mentioned in the many recent reports on the success of Rheinmetall, the company that supplies the weapons to Germany and the Israeli state during its ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip, is described as a plausible genocide by the ICJ. In the five days following the attacks of October 7, the Rheinmetall group share price rose by around 15%, the largest in 2023. Rheinmetall's share price has experienced significant and sustained growth since October last year and is, in May 2024, its highest point in history of the company.

Details of Rheinmetall's involvement in the ongoing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, as the army continues its ground invasion of Rafah, are limited. But in January it was also announced that the company would supply some 10,000 vehicles under a German-Israeli deal reached in November 2023. 120mm precision cartridges “to replenish the munitions used in the Gaza operation.” Rheinmetall also has a joint venture with BAE Systems, another arms company intimately involved with the Israeli military; Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land. This joint ventureheadquartered in Telford, England, manufactures and supplies infantry vehicles.

impACT International implores Borussia Dortmund to reconsider its deal with Rheinmetall, a company so deeply embedded in an industry that is at odds with human rights, equality and the values ​​of the Union of European Football Associations.