The management of St. Petersburg Zenith and the German football club Schalke 04 from Gelsenkirchen signed a cooperation agreement. As the president of Zenit Sergey Fursenko said, "an agreement between our clubs should benefit primarily Russian football." The document implies, in particular, the intensification of sports exchanges between Zenit and Schalke 04, as well as the opportunity for our players and coaches to have an internship in the Bundesliga.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on an official visit to Germany met with the leadership of the Schalke 04 football club (Gelsenkirchen). The meeting seemed unexpected only at first glance. In fact, its logic fits entirely into the logic of the Russian president’s stay on German soil. The contract signed the day before between the German football club and Russian Gazprom is called sponsorship - the Schalke players will now enter the field in uniform with the Gazprom logo. According to German media, the transaction amount is about 100 million euros - ten million per season. This is the second largest contract in the Bundesliga - more from his title sponsor receives only Munich “Bavaria”. The amount is not lost against the background of global Russian-German gas agreements.
It is no coincidence that Vladimir Putin took the time to meet with German football officials. “I hope that cooperation with Gazprom will benefit German football. I know that Schalke has a lot of fans in Germany. I’m sure that the club will now have fans in Russia, ”the president said. In addition, the head of state expressed hope that the signed contract would dispel “unfounded rumors that Gazprom has or had plans to acquire Schalke.” The head of the German club Clemens Tennis, in turn, said that "a contract with the world's largest gas company will help both the German and Russian clubs." In addition to Gazprom, the German club - apparently, as a load - also received St. Petersburg Zenit as partners. The president of the Russian club and concurrently the head of Gazprom’s subsidiary Lentransgaz Sergey Fursenko said: “We took advantage of our official position and at the same time signed an agreement between Zenit and Schalke 04. Under this agreement, Russian football players and coaches will have the opportunity to regularly undergo an internship in Bundesliga. " .
VALERY WINGURT
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