The circumstances around the award of the World Cup to Qatar in 2010 were scandalous. The award criteria have to be significantly more transparent in the future. Qatar came out on top in the fourth round of voting in 2010 although it was the least suitable of all applications for hosting a World Cup according to FIFA's own audit reports. Out of eight new World Cup stadiums, seven were new-build projects. Football culture does not exist in Qatar. From our perspective, that is a knockout criterion for a potential World Cup host. And for that reason we believe the World Cup should never have been awarded to Qatar.
Extreme political attitudes of a host country, homophobia, the denial of freedom of expression and women's rights plus unacceptable working conditions in the country staging a World Cup are completely contrary to the basic values we stand for at this club. In this respect, Bayer 04 supports the DFB in their endeavours and in their emphatic commitment to achieve transparency and to our free and democratic value system.
Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, is a member of the board of the European Club Association (ECA). He will visit Qatar in December for a board meeting and a range of other discussions. The Spaniard takes the following position: "Questions ignored in the award of this tournament twelve years ago on the human rights situation, on equality and the freedom of expression in the host country will justifiably accompany this World Cup. We now need to work towards making the award criteria for a World Cup significantly more transparent in the future. I will campaign for that in the name of Bayer 04."
As a club, we also look at this World Cup from the perspective of our players. They have worked for years for their sporting objectives and this World Cup could be the high point of the football careers of some of them. In our opinion, we believe it would be wrong not to report on this. Therefore, we will report on our international players at the World Cup and their sporting achievements and follow their appearances on the World Cup stage. We believe the players cannot be made responsible for the award of the competition to Qatar twelve years ago. Accordingly, they have our respect, our support and editorial backing.
The long-standing successful collaboration between Bayer 04 and the transport service provider wupsi GmbH has been expanded: From January 2026, 100 wupsi bikes with Bayer 04 branding will be available for hire throughout the city of Leverkusen. They will complement the many existing offers and services that provide key support, especially for fans travelling to and from home matches at the BayArena.
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The Werkself are back! Following the two-week winter break, head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team began the new year with an open session on Sunday. After Robert Andrich and his teammates arrived in Leverkusen yesterday for the official check-in, they got back down to business a day later in front of around 1,200 fans at the Ulrich Haberland Stadion. The report from the Werkself's first session of 2026.
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In her debut season of 2024/25, Cornelia Kramer immediately became the top scorer for Bayer 04 Women. However, the Danish national team striker was stopped by an injury at the start of the new season. Now, just in time before the end of last year, she is fit again – and has extended her contract early until 2027. In this interview, the 23-year-old talks about the reasons for her decision and looks ahead.
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After a two-week winter break, the Werkself resume training on Sunday, 4 January. The first session in 2026 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium starts at 11:00 and is open to fans. Bayer 04 look forward to welcoming supporters at the start of 2026. The Werkself schedule for the new year.
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