Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Wolfsburg's Volkswagen sponsorship not hit by emissions scandal - Allofs

Wolfsburg don't fear that the Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal will affect the club's sponsorship and finances, sporting executive Klaus Allofs has told kicker.

The German car manufacturer's CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned late on Wednesday following a meeting between members of VW's supervisory board in Wolfsburg.

The scandal over falsified United States vehicle emission tests saw VW shares drop from over €160 to €111.5 within only three days. The company could also face penalty fines of up to $18 billion (€16.1bn) in the U.S., for which they have already set aside €6.5bn.

VW are one of German football's biggest sponsors, with subsidiaries holding stakes in three Bundesliga clubs -- Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich and Ingolstadt -- and sponsoring a further 13. The car manufacturer also holds the naming rights for the DFB-Pokal (German Cup).

Winterkorn, in particular, has been a driving force for the investments in football. When he became the CEO of Volkswagen in 2007 he began investing heavily in Wolfsburg -- a 100 percent subsidiary of the car manufacturer. He is also a member of Bayern's supervisory board.

When Winterkorn and Ferdinand Piech -- who was the head of the supervisory board -- battled for control earlier this year, German tabloid Bild reported that VW could cut their Wolfsburg investments from an annual €80m to €30m.

Winterkorn was successful then to avoid any potential crisis at the club, but Wolfsburg sporting executive Allofs told kicker on Wednesday afternoon prior to the CEO's resignation later that day that he does not fear the future.

"Of course, we discuss it [the crisis] on the board," he said, and added that he also talked to Wolfsburg's head of supervisory board Francisco Javier Garcia -- an executive board member at VW -- but admitted they did not go into details.

He added: "We have not discussed the effects on VfL. I believe that's not necessary. The VfL commitment has a great meaning.

"And it will not be automatically questioned by a crisis. We know the value VfL has for Volkswagen. And I believe this value will not change."

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