By taking this action, the Werkself are looking to draw attention to the long-standing commitment of the foundation. Deutsche Krebshilfe has been providing support for people suffering from cancer and their relatives since 1974. According to the motto of "Help. Research. Information." the organisation promotes projects for the improvement of prevention, screening, diagnosis, therapy, medical after-care and psychosocial care.
Matthias Adler, head of fans and sustainability: "The Deutsche Krebshilfe organisation with Bayer 04 advocate a healthy lifestyle as a preventative measure. This is happening as part of the project of Football Fans in Training. On the 50th anniversary, we want to raise additional awareness of Deutsche Krebshilfe with our profile in the cup competition on our sleeves."
Gerd Nettekoven, CEO of the Stiftung Deutsche Krebshilfe: "We are very happy that the German champions are showing commitment to the Deutsche Krebshilfe and making the sleeve on the team jerseys available free of charge for the Pokal game against Jena. The increased awareness for our important work in all areas in the fight against cancer is of very great value to us."
This is not a one-off event. Bayer 04 has been in partnership with the Deutsche Krebshilfe organisation for many years and is planning further joint actions with the foundation in this anniversary year: Bayer 04 will take part in a special campaign in professional sport in the autumn initiated by the foundation. In addition, together with the Deutsche Krebshilfe, Bayer 04 will be staging a ‘Football fans in training’ tournament 2024 on 12 October with participants from all over Germany.
At ‘Football fans in training’ overweight fans have the opportunity to lose kilos on free courses with professional support at Bayer 04 facilities and to look at their own diets in groups with like-minded people. The preventative project is now being carried out in 25 clubs in the three professional leagues in Germany together with the Deutsche Krebshilfe organisation.
After their first win on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase, Olympiacos are still in with a good chance of reaching the play-offs in the UEFA Champions League. The 2024 UEFA Conference League winners will be looking to go one better in their home match against Bayer 04 this Tuesday, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), but their stop scorer is unavailable. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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