German football comes to flood victims' aid

The German national team has donated €500,000 to the victims of the flood catastrophe in eastern Germany.

'It's about human beings'
"We are deeply struck by these horrible pictures and agreed spontaneously to help these people," coach Rudi Völler said at press conference in Berlin two days before his side's friendly against Bulgaria in Sofia. "It's not about monuments or football grounds, it's about human beings. That affects all of us."

Charity match
The German Football Association (DFB) will also contribute to the reconstruction works. Additionally DFB president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder announced that a charity match between the German national team and an All-Star team of foreign professionals from the 1. Bundesliga would take place at the beginning of 2003. The DFB will also provide €1.5m in aid, which will largely go towards the rebuilding of destroyed sports grounds in affected areas.

Bayern to contribute
German football is following the lead of Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, who pledged to contribute €1m to the victims of the floods a few days ago. FC Bayern München players have decided to donate €100,000 each while the club will donate gate receipts generated from the second leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifying round match against FK Partizan, which could total in excess of €200,000. The Munich club is also intending to organise two friendly matches in the affected areas to generate further aid revenue.

Breitner donates jersey
Former Federal Republic of Germany international Paul Breitner is also auctioning a jersey from the 1974 FIFA World Cup with all proceeds going to help the flood victims. Breitner has put the shirt he exchanged with German Democratic Republic striker Jürgen Sparwasser for sale on the Internet. Sparwasser scored the only goal of the game when the two German sides met in the World Cup finals on 22 June 1974 in Hamburg.