Schalke 04 to Partner with Gazprom

German club Schalke 04 stands to gain as much as EUR 125 million over the course of five-and-a-half years from a possible association with Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas company.

Even though a number of German newspapers and the country's leading soccer magazine report the deal is already done, Schalke has not yet confirmed the arrangement, though team officials called a press conference in Dresden on Tuesday -- the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin pays an official state visit to the eastern German city.

According to media reports, Gazprom, which accounts for almost a quarter of the world's gas production and had some EUR 64 billion in sales in 2004, will take over the main sponsorship of the club from Victoria Insurance, whose contract with Schalke runs out in June.

The deal would be the largest sponsoring agreement ever in German first division, eclipsing the EUR 20 million annually that Bayern Munich receive from Deutsche Telekom and give Schalke fans a new reason to buy replica jerseys with the Gazprom logo next season.

A huge infusion of cash would be welcome news for the Gelsenkirchen-based club whose estimated debts total as much as EUR 120 million, and whose on-field fortunes have been up and down of late.

"I'm not worried," said Clemens Tönnies, chairman of Schalke's board of directors, when asked recently about the financial implications of the club's early exit from the UEFA Cup. "We've got several things in the pipeline."

Schalke coach Mirko Slomka said he is pleased at the prospect of having more money to spend on players next season. "If the contract is finalized, it would surely be a good deal," Slomka said in a television interview on Sunday.

But he hastened to add that there was "no chance" the Russia gas giant would control day-to-day club operations. There have been no reports about precisely who brought the two sides together, but many observers have noted that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder works as an advisor for Gazprom. If the deal is confirmed as expected on Tuesday, that would ironic - Schroder was always known as a fan of Dortmund, Schalke's archrivals.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.