Eintracht Frankfurt has terminated its cooperation with Kaspersky. The warning from the BSI was the deciding factor.
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The Kaspersky Lab logo on the Kaspersky Lab central building in Moscow.
© Tatiana Belova/Shutterstock.com
According to media reports, the Eintracht Frankfurt soccer club is ending its collaboration with its previous “premium sponsor” Kaspersky. The football magazine “Kicker” writes that Eintracht Frankfurt would end its partnership with Kaspersky after the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) published a warning about Kaspersky’s virus protection software.
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It was preceded by a long back and forth: Kaspersky – partnership with Eintracht Frankfurt will remain. After Putin ordered the Russian attack on Ukraine, Eintracht Frankfurt first demanded a statement from Kaspersky in which the company should distance itself from any acts of war. Until then, Eintracht let the cooperation rest, Kaspersky was no longer listed on Eintracht’s sponsors’ page. In the Kaspersky online shop, the purchase link to the “Eintracht Frankfurt Edition” of its security software led to nowhere.
However, Kaspersky made no explicit statement against the Russian attack. Given the fact that the company has many employees and a large headquarters in Moscow, that might be difficult. So company boss Eugene Kaspersky made a vague statement: “We believe that peaceful dialogue is the only possible instrument to resolve conflicts. War is not good for anyone. Like the rest of the world, we are shocked by what is happening “. On Twitter you can read this opinion
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We welcome the start of negotiations to resolve the current situation in Ukraine and hope that they will lead to a cessation of hostilities and a compromise. We believe that peaceful dialogue is the only possible instrument for resolving conflicts. War isn’t good for anyone.
— Eugene Kaspersky (@e_kaspersky) March 1, 2022
Axel Hellmann, spokesman for the board of Eintracht Frankfurt, was initially satisfied with this. Kaspersky, in turn, did not respond to the required explanation to PC-WELT, but only explained evasively: “The partnership between Eintracht Frankfurt and Kaspersky will remain in place.”
BSI warning was decisive for Eintracht’s decision
However, on March 15, 2022, the BSI published an official warning about Kaspersky’s virus protection software. That was probably the decisive factor for Eintracht Frankfurt to finally end the cooperation.
The kicker quotes from a press release from Eintracht Frankfurt: “We have always made it clear that we base the continuation of the partnership with Kaspersky on facts and attitude and not on nationalities. With the warning from the BSI, the facts and thus the trust in the Protectability of Kaspersky’s products and services has changed significantly. We have informed the management of Kaspersky that we are terminating the sponsorship agreement with immediate effect. We can look back on a very trusting and successful partnership with Kaspersky and have always had a fair one over the past almost four years and good cooperation with the people involved. We very much regret the development.” The Frankfurter Rundschau also confirms the termination of the cooperation.
The press office of the club has so far left unanswered repeated inquiries from PC-WELT to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Kaspersky counters BSI: Warning is a political decision
BSI warns against Kaspersky virus protection software!
