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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen and sponsors club partner NRG24 are continuing their partnership, which has been in place since the summer of 2023. The Bundesliga football club and the energy consultancy firm have extended their successful partnership until 30 June 2027.
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Bayer 04 host VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena on matchday 8 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The game will be played on Halloween on Saturday, 31 October with the a 15:30 CET kick-off. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 host SC Paderborn at the BayArena on matchday 10 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The game against the newly promoted team is on Saturday, 21 November with the a 15:30 CET kick-off. The latest information on ticket sales.
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“School education: a key to success in a sporting career?” – this and other questions relating to dual training in sport, particularly in football, took centre stage at the EDU-DC Conference at the BayArena. The event, held in the Premium Lounge, brought together experts from top clubs and associations from 24 nations, including England, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. Representatives from Bayer 04 and TSV Bayer 04 provided insights into the interplay between school and sport at the Werkself.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 2-0 win at Viktoria Berlin in the first round of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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