German football club Schalke has announced the end of their 16-year partnership with Russian energy company Gazprom.

The 2. Bundesliga side dropped their long-held sponsor from their shirts in February after pressure from the German media over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Newspaper giants BILD refused to show Schalke’s shirt branding in their coverage of the team, replacing it with the message ‘Solidarity with Ukraine’ in a story entitled ‘BILD puts an end to Putin’s advertising’.

Schalke have now not only ended their shirt sponsorship agreement with the company, but have now released a statement confirming their partnership has ended completely.

“The FC Schalke 04 managing board and supervisory board have come to the agreement to end the club’s partnership with GAZPROM prematurely,” the statement read. 

“The club are currently in discussions with representatives of the current sponsor and further information will be released at a later date.”

Gazprom is a state-owned Russian gas company, and has a strong brand in football as one of the Champions League’s main sponsors in a £33.5million deal.

UEFA has now withdrawn Gazprom’s sponsorship activation rights which includes in-stadium branding on perimeter boards for upcoming European knockout games.

Multiple reports also suggest UEFA is looking to definitively cut ties with the company as the world of football responds to the crisis in Ukraine.

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