Beer, bratwurst and football

So do football and beer go together or do they not? To all appearances, football bodies are in two minds about it. FIFA, the international football federation, thinks it's ok, while the German Football Federation, DFB, begs to differ.

Within the DFB a fierce debate has erupted over whether the federation should extend the sponsorship contract with the German brewer Bitburger, which expires after the European Football Championship in 2012.

According to reports by German sports media in October 2011, some DFB top honchos are in favour of allowing Bitburger to sponsor the German national team. Only they reckoned without the DFB's President Theo Zwanziger. He has called off talks with Bitburger, saying that there is a clash of interests. The DFB has backed the “enjoy alcohol-free sport” initiative drawn up by the German Olympic Sports Federation. This has placed the football organisation in a quandary as to whether it can enter into a commercial agreement with a brewer.

“If the DFB were to negotiate a contract extension with Bitburger, we will have to explore very carefully whether, and how, this can include beer advertising,” Mr Zwanziger was quoted as saying.

Bitburger's sponsorship deal with the DFB is estimated to amount to two million euros per year.

A Bitburger spokesperson declined to comment.

It needs to be said that many German football clubs have lucrative contracts with brewers and are therefore affected by the dispute. A general ban on alcohol advertising in the national league, the Bundesliga, will reportedly deprive clubs of EUR 300 million per year in revenues.

Hans-Dieter Drewitz, the DFB’s vice-president for youth football, maintained that the organisation is not seeking a blanket ban on alcohol sponsorships but may need to establish new ways in which to promote the concept of responsible drinking.

FC Bayern Munich Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge does not seem to understand the controversy within the DFB. The sports newspaper Bild quoted the Bayern boss as saying: "Three things go together: football, bratwurst and beer."

The world football organisation FIFA appears to have no such qualms. On 25 October 2011 AB-InBev announced the extension of its official beer sponsorship for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the 2022 FIFA World

Cup in Qatar. The cumulative TV reach audience of the FIFA World Cup is more than 25 billion while the finals attract 700 million people. Apparently, global viewers seem to be more savvy when it comes to responsible beer consumption than fans of the German team.