War in Ukraine: Borussia Dortmund revokes Gerhard Schröder's honorary membership

"Borussia Dortmund have withdrawn Gerhard Schröder's honorary membership with immediate effect," announced the Bundesliga club on 02/03/2022.

The former Federal Chancellor of Germany (from October 1998 to November 2005), who has chaired the board of directors of the Russian company Rosneft (a state company specialised in the extraction, processing and distribution of oil) since September 2017 as well as the shareholders' committee of Nord Stream AG (a consortium of companies working together to build two gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea), is accused of refusing to relinquish his position despite the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Gerhard Schröder is also expected to join the board of Gazprom, the Russian state-owned gas and electricity supplier (51% shareholder in Nord Stream AG), whose partnerships with FC Schalke 04 and UEFA have been terminated (see below).

"In a conversation this morning BVB president, Dr. Reinhard Rauball, informed the former Federal Chancellor in person about a resolution to that effect passed unanimously by the board…