German carmakers Volkswagen today announced that they won't renew their sponsorship deals with German Bundesliga club Schalke 04 and second division club 1860 Munich. The Volkswagen Group has been embroiled in an emissions scandal after deliberately trying to circumvent Clean Air Act regulations in the United States since September 2015.
Volkswagen to Continue As DFB Pokal sponsor
Volkswagen will logically continue to be on the shirts of "their club", VfL Wolfsburg.
Both contracts are due to expire at the end of June (Volkswagen is second-tier Schalke sponsor and shirt sponsor of 1860 München). However, while some sources say the car manufacturer will continue to sponsor the German Cup, which it began doing in 2012, a company spokesman just told AFP the following.
"Volkswagen will not extend its contracts with Schalke 04 and Munich 1860 at the end of the current season."
Volkswagen is currently one of the five biggest football sponsors in Germany and sponsors various first and second division clubs.