Bayern Munich supporters displayed a huge banner during the team’s home game against SC Freiburg on Saturday, criticising the club for what they say is the “sports washing” of human rights abuses in Qatar by accepting sponsorship from that country’s national airline.

Meanwhile, the Bayern club members are also preparing to present a motion at the club’s AGM on November 25 calling for it to end its sponsorship agreements with FIFA World Cup host Qatar “at the earliest possible date.”

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During Saturday’s game, members of the Bayern ultra fan club “Munich’s Red Pride” displayed a provocative banner in the south stand. The banner depicted a caricature of club chairman Oliver Kahn and smiling president Herbert Hainer washing blood-stained clothes in a washing machine under the words, “For money, we’ll wash anything clean.”

Michael Ott, who initiated the motion, and his backers say the sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways “is incompatible with the values of our association” and that the club’s reputation is being damaged through its links with the Gulf country.

However, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann defended the club’s stance after his team’s 2-1 victory moved it four points clear at the top of the standings.

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“The club tries to discuss things through dialogue, to influence things through dialogue and not by exclusion or looking the other way. I think that we’ve made a little bit of difference,” Nagelsmann said, according to Associated Press reports. “In the end my responsibility is for what happens on the field.”

Bayern Munich supporters have long been vocal about their club’s financial relations with Qatar. They organised a public discussion titled “Qatar, human rights, and FC Bayern” in January 2020, which featured two migrant workers who spoke about their experiences working on stadium building for the World Cup next year.

In August, Amnesty International issued a report accusing Qatari officials of doing nothing to investigate the deaths of thousands of teenage migrant workers in the country during the previous decade.

With inputs from the Associated Press