FC Bayern and Rwanda agreed on a five-year partnership a few months ago. Since then, the Bavarians have received a lot of criticism. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen now explained and justified the commitment.
read more / Watch video in English at Bayerischer Rundfunk
Letter to the editor Simone Schlindwein, 29 August 2023
Bayern Munich and a tricky sponsor: new best friends
FC Bayern enters into a partnership. It promotes Rwanda, where human rights violations are the order of the day.
The article is characterised by the photo of President Paul Kagame, which is supposed to offer readers the “key” to the supposedly correct interpretation of reality. Not only the headlines appear critical, the visual impression is also intended to depict violence and dictatorship.
Reading the article, it becomes clear that media in the West do not consider it opportune for a country in Africa to rise from the ashes of its own past with self-confidence and take many compatriots with it. Strict in its approach and admittedly often very urgent and impatient in its leadership style, Rwanda managed to become a respected and respected country for its own people and on the international stage after the “0” hour in 1994. Nobody could have expected these results at the time, because the break in civilisation caused by the genocide seemed incurable. The development of Rwanda under President Kagame proves all the more how a country can achieve a good position both internally and externally through internal discipline and hard work. Now a contract that has been well negotiated from an economic perspective is being criticised as being unfair. The 1st FC Bayern, because it was quite wrong with a previous sponsorship from Qatar, and now even more so with the seemingly impossible partner Rwanda. In the reading of the taz, Rwanda is the culmination of the impossible, the culmination of failed politics, simply a failed piece of development. “Just as well”, the readers think, that the country is so small. And therefore of no significance?
However, it should have long since been realised that Rwanda and Paul Kagame have long enjoyed a high reputation and status in international assessments that other countries can only dream of. Rwanda is therefore already being treated differently from the perspective of those who, in the old colonial mindset, considered the 1st and 2nd Republics of Rwanda to be the “right” republic. The ethnic separation of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa was dictated by the colonial powers in the identity cards. Kagame’s first official act was to remove this separation from the passport in 1994. Since then, there have only been Rwandans without ethnic segregation, a first step towards reconciling decades of injustice. The country is known for “its genocide”, reports Simone Schlindwein. Kagame is trying to “polish up” the image. The colourful bouquet of adventurous attributions includes the fear that Rwanda is probably spending the money it receives in development cooperation carelessly. Should Rwanda only conclude contracts with the authorisation of donors? The sovereignty of a country looks different! Rwanda can only improve its independence from foreign donors with humanitarian finger-wagging claims by increasing value creation in its own country. This has been a declared goal of all Rwandan endeavours for years, and with success.
Simone Schlindwein, who knows the history of the genocide and how it was dealt with from the Stuttgart trial of the German branch of the genocide perpetrators, the FDLR – where she was a very important trial observer together with Dominic Johnson – obviously fails to recognise what Rwanda has built up in the meantime. In schools and education, in the equality of women, in the expansion of the legal system, in the fight against all kinds of corruption, in a very effective parliament with two chambers and in the successes of good, citizen-centred administration. Colonial style is the arrogance with which judgements are still made in this country, unintentionally perhaps, but effective nonetheless. It is no wonder that Rwanda has more faith in a future South-South partnership than in the unbalanced, traditional North-South policy expressed in this report.
All other countries in Africa seem to be ahead of Rwanda in the Taz ranking. You would think. The international assessment is different. Paul Kagame was recently declared Man of the Year by African publicists. He is pursuing a policy that fulfils what is also being formulated as a goal here these days, namely to tackle people’s everyday problems. A political style that does not tell people how they should be, but takes seriously what concerns them and shows them respect.
It is to be hoped that the German public will become even more aware of “the dreamlike land of a thousand hills” in the heart of Africa as a result of FC Bayern’s tourism promotion and that Rwanda will be visited. It is worthwhile not only because of the publicity in the Munich stadium for “Visit Rwanda”, but also because of the people in Rwanda and because of the efforts officially undertaken by German politics. Cooperation with Rwanda is setting milestones in new development policy. And if the successful cooperation between the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda over the past 41 years is just one small example, there are many actors who are committed to and in Rwanda for good reason. They do not find themselves and their ideas reflected in the condemnation of Rwanda.
Dietmar Rieth, former Member of Parliament (1991 – 2001) BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN
Dr Richard Auernheimer, former State Secretary
FC Bayern and Rwanda agreed on a five-year partnership a few months ago. Since then, the Bavarians have received a lot of criticism. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen now explained and justified the commitment.
read more / Watch video in English at Bayerischer RundfunkFC Bayern and Rwanda agreed on a five-year partnership a few months ago. Since then, the Bavarians have received a lot of criticism. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen now explained and justified the commitment.
read more / Watch video in English at Bayerischer Rundfunk
Letter to the editor
Simone Schlindwein, 29 August 2023
Bayern Munich and a tricky sponsor: new best friends
FC Bayern enters into a partnership. It promotes Rwanda, where human rights violations are the order of the day.
The article is characterised by the photo of President Paul Kagame, which is supposed to offer readers the “key” to the supposedly correct interpretation of reality. Not only the headlines appear critical, the visual impression is also intended to depict violence and dictatorship.
Reading the article, it becomes clear that media in the West do not consider it opportune for a country in Africa to rise from the ashes of its own past with self-confidence and take many compatriots with it. Strict in its approach and admittedly often very urgent and impatient in its leadership style, Rwanda managed to become a respected and respected country for its own people and on the international stage after the “0” hour in 1994. Nobody could have expected these results at the time, because the break in civilisation caused by the genocide seemed incurable. The development of Rwanda under President Kagame proves all the more how a country can achieve a good position both internally and externally through internal discipline and hard work. Now a contract that has been well negotiated from an economic perspective is being criticised as being unfair. The 1st FC Bayern, because it was quite wrong with a previous sponsorship from Qatar, and now even more so with the seemingly impossible partner Rwanda. In the reading of the taz, Rwanda is the culmination of the impossible, the culmination of failed politics, simply a failed piece of development. “Just as well”, the readers think, that the country is so small. And therefore of no significance?
However, it should have long since been realised that Rwanda and Paul Kagame have long enjoyed a high reputation and status in international assessments that other countries can only dream of. Rwanda is therefore already being treated differently from the perspective of those who, in the old colonial mindset, considered the 1st and 2nd Republics of Rwanda to be the “right” republic. The ethnic separation of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa was dictated by the colonial powers in the identity cards. Kagame’s first official act was to remove this separation from the passport in 1994. Since then, there have only been Rwandans without ethnic segregation, a first step towards reconciling decades of injustice. The country is known for “its genocide”, reports Simone Schlindwein. Kagame is trying to “polish up” the image. The colourful bouquet of adventurous attributions includes the fear that Rwanda is probably spending the money it receives in development cooperation carelessly. Should Rwanda only conclude contracts with the authorisation of donors? The sovereignty of a country looks different! Rwanda can only improve its independence from foreign donors with humanitarian finger-wagging claims by increasing value creation in its own country. This has been a declared goal of all Rwandan endeavours for years, and with success.
Simone Schlindwein, who knows the history of the genocide and how it was dealt with from the Stuttgart trial of the German branch of the genocide perpetrators, the FDLR – where she was a very important trial observer together with Dominic Johnson – obviously fails to recognise what Rwanda has built up in the meantime. In schools and education, in the equality of women, in the expansion of the legal system, in the fight against all kinds of corruption, in a very effective parliament with two chambers and in the successes of good, citizen-centred administration. Colonial style is the arrogance with which judgements are still made in this country, unintentionally perhaps, but effective nonetheless. It is no wonder that Rwanda has more faith in a future South-South partnership than in the unbalanced, traditional North-South policy expressed in this report.
All other countries in Africa seem to be ahead of Rwanda in the Taz ranking. You would think. The international assessment is different. Paul Kagame was recently declared Man of the Year by African publicists. He is pursuing a policy that fulfils what is also being formulated as a goal here these days, namely to tackle people’s everyday problems. A political style that does not tell people how they should be, but takes seriously what concerns them and shows them respect.
It is to be hoped that the German public will become even more aware of “the dreamlike land of a thousand hills” in the heart of Africa as a result of FC Bayern’s tourism promotion and that Rwanda will be visited. It is worthwhile not only because of the publicity in the Munich stadium for “Visit Rwanda”, but also because of the people in Rwanda and because of the efforts officially undertaken by German politics. Cooperation with Rwanda is setting milestones in new development policy. And if the successful cooperation between the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda over the past 41 years is just one small example, there are many actors who are committed to and in Rwanda for good reason. They do not find themselves and their ideas reflected in the condemnation of Rwanda.
Dietmar Rieth, former Member of Parliament (1991 – 2001) BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN
Dr Richard Auernheimer, former State Secretary
FC Bayern and Rwanda agreed on a five-year partnership a few months ago. Since then, the Bavarians have received a lot of criticism. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen now explained and justified the commitment.
read more / Watch video in English at Bayerischer Rundfunk