Bayern Munich have accused senior Fifa member Theo Zwanziger of double standards after the former German soccer chief criticised the Bundesliga champions over last week’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
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The team from Bavaria, a leading global football brand, played a friendly against Al-Hilal in Riyadh on Saturday in a one-day trip organised by a club sponsor.
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It coincided with an uproar over the flogging in Saudi Arabia of activist and blogger Raif Badawi and Zwanziger accused Bayern of being driven by “commercial ethics”.
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“If Dr Theo Zwanziger has indeed forgotten what he once said (about Bayern) then we are seriously worried,” read a column on the club website. “Does the Dr need a doctor?”.
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“Dr Theo Zwanziger … is grateful to have used his chance at Bayern’s expense to hit the headlines.”
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The club also said Zwanziger, during his time as head of the German FA (DFB), had repeatedly praised them and listed a number of his quotes from the past.
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The Bavarians added that Germany, when Zwanziger was on the DFB board, played in Saudi Arabia in 1998 but that never caused any problems.
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Zwanziger believed the club should not have played in Saudi Arabia.
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“I know commercial ethics has ruled at Bayern for some time and when in any doubt they always side with the money bag. It is a shame but it does not surprise me,” he said
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