German Football Team Schalke to Replace Russian Sponsor Gazprom Logo

The name of Gazprom will be replaced by the full name of the team, Schalke 04, the club confirmed.

Schalke have decided to do away with the Gazprom logo

Image: IANS

German soccer team Schalke have said they will replace the logo of sponsor 'Gazprom' on their shirts for an indeterminate period. The decision comes on the back of Russia invading Ukraine.

The name of the Russian state oil giant will be replaced by the full name of the team, Schalke 04, the club confirmed.

Senior Gazprom Executive, Matthias Warnig had already announced his intention to quit the supervisory board of Schalke earlier on Thursday after being a target of US sanctions.

Warnig is CEO of the newly built but never operated Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream2 pipeline which is a multibillion-dollar project of Gazprom and European companies, DW reported.

Earlier this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz postponed certifying the pipeline indefinitely over Russian aggression in Ukraine.

At the same time, European football body UEFA announced on Thursday that it was holding a meeting to discuss its showpiece game, the Champions League final.

The match, which sees the best two European football clubs square off, is due to be held in St. Petersburg on 28 May, and UEFA are all set to change the venue due to the Russian military action on Ukraine.