Top football club Borussia Dortmund has announced a multiyear sponsorship deal with weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall, in the latest signal of how German attitudes towards the defence industry are shifting.
The deal allows Europe’s largest ammunition manufacturer to display its logo on stadium advertising boards and in the background at press conferences, although not on players’ shirts.
The sponsorship marks the first time a German defence company has sponsored a Bundesliga team, underlining the increasing economic and cultural clout of the arms industry in a country that has shunned any association with war because of its history as an aggressor in the 20th century.