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VOLKSWAGEN

Volkswagen to sponsor German national football team

Germany's top automaker Volkswagen will from 2019 replace its luxury-range competitor Mercedes-Benz as the top sponsor of the national football team, the company and sports body said on Friday.

Volkswagen to sponsor German national football team
Beginning in 2019, 'Die Mannschaft' players will take the pitch bearing the VW logo. Photo: DENIS CHARLET / AFP
The new deal to sponsor the current world champions comes as VW struggles with the fallout of its “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal and Mercedes-maker Daimler also faces accusations it rigged air pollution tests.
 
The advertising marriage of VW and “Die Mannschaft”, as Germans call their team, starts on January 1, 2019 and runs until July 31, 2024.
 
No financial details were released, but German media said Wolfsburg-based VW would pay the German Football Association DFB €25-30 million ($28-34 million) a year, far more than Daimler has paid.
 
“Volkswagen and the number one national sport — that's a great partnership,” said Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, pledging that it was committed to “all German football, with its 25,000 clubs and seven million members (of the federation)”.
 
DFB president Reinhard Grindel said: “Volkswagen, as a globally operating company, is a strong partner to further advance our internationalisation, especially in China.”
 
He hinted at the emissions cheating scandal, saying that “the DFB and VW are united on the need to learn from past mistakes and take the right measures in the future”.
 
'Great challenges'
Volkswagen Group, which also owns Audi, Porsche, Seat and other brands, in 2015 admitted that it had manipulated emissions readings on some 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide.
 
Investigators found that VW used so-called defeat devices, making vehicles appear to comply with environmental standards when actual emissions were much higher.
 
The carmaker has so far set aside more than 22 billion euros to cover fines and compensation related to the scandal, but experts estimate the final bill could be much higher.
 
VW has since pledged to become the world leader in clean, electric vehicles, and Diess said that “for the next few years, we have set ourselves a lot of goals as a company”.
 
“Volkswagen is changing. We face great challenges. This includes helping the breakthrough of electro-mobility,” he said, adding that “the partnership with the DFB will help us to reach the people” with these ideas.
 
Meanwhile, Stuttgart-based Daimler has also been accused of having manipulated the engines of around one million diesel vehicles.
 
German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and two broadcasters, citing a search warrant, said the company “sold vehicles with higher levels of damaging emissions than allowed for almost a whole decade between 2008 and 2016, in Europe and the United States”.
 
A Daimler spokeswoman contacted by AFP declined to comment on an ongoing investigation, but said the carmaker was cooperating with the authorities.

GREENPEACE

Two hospitalized in Munich after activist crashes parachute into Euro 2020 stadium

At least two people were hospitalised Tuesday after a Greenpeace activist crash-landed on the pitch before the Germany-France match at Euro 2020 when his powered parachute microlight struck spidercam cables at Munich's Allianz Arena.

Two hospitalized in Munich after activist crashes parachute into Euro 2020 stadium
The activist lands on the turf of the Allianz Arena. credit: dpa | Christian Charisius

The pilot flew over the pitch just before kick-off in the Group F clash with “Kick out oil” written on the canopy of his parachute.

However, when the pilot hit television cables above the pitch, it knocked his microlight off balance and he landed on the turf after clipping one of the stands, where the casualties happened.

The activist was arrested soon after landing.

A Munich police spokesman told AFP that at least two people suffered head injuries and “both had to be taken to hospital, we don’t know yet how serious the injuries are”.

The police spokesman said the activist appears to have escaped injury, but “we are considering various criminal charges. Munich police has zero understanding for political actions that put lives at risk”.

UEFA also slammed the botched stunt.

“This inconsiderate act – which could have had very serious consequences for a huge number of people attending – caused injuries to several people attending the game who are now in hospital and law authorities will take the necessary action,” European football’s governing body said in a statement.

The parachutist above the stadium. Photo: dpa | Matthias Balk

“The staging of the match was fortunately not impacted by such a reckless and dangerous action, but several people were injured nonetheless.”

The stunt was a protest against German car manufacturer Volkswagen, one of the sponsors of the European Championship, Greenpeace explained in a Twitter post.

“UEFA and its partners are fully committed to a sustainable Euro 2020 tournament and many initiatives have been implemented to offset carbon emissions,” said UEFA.

Greenpeace said they regretted any harm caused.

“This protest was never intended to disrupt the game or hurt people,” read a Twitter post on Greenpeace’s official German account.

“We hope that everyone is OK and that no one was seriously injured. Greenpeace actions are always peaceful and non-violent.”

“Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan.”

READ MORE: Climate activists rage as Germany opts for drawn-out coal exit

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