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Umbro and Schalke put an end to it.

The British sporting goods manufacturer will no longer be the official supplier to FC Schalke 04 earlier than planned.

This became known at the event "MitGEredet digital" on Thursday evening, where fans can ask their questions to the Schalke board.

Originally the contract would have run until 2023, but it has now been agreed to stop a year earlier.

Accordingly, S04 will only play in Umbro jerseys in the coming season - regardless of the league.

"Both from our side and from Umbros, the expectations have not been met," said Schalke's Marketing Director Alexander Jobst.

From Schalke's perspective, the unfulfilled expectations apparently meant that the club was dissatisfied with the low sales of jerseys and the poor placement of the products in stores.

On the other hand, Umbro is unlikely to be enthusiastic about the athletic achievements of Schalke.

The British company took over the position from long-time supplier Adidas in 2018.

At that time, the contract was signed with a reigning runner-up, Schalke played in the Champions League the following season.

Like from another time: Schalke in the last 16 of the Champions League against Manchester City in 2019

Source: Bongarts / Getty Images / Maja Hitij

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The reality has been different since January 2020 at the latest.

Series of victories, relegation battle and conflicts in the club.

It is understandable that Umbro now wanted to end the collaboration.

Unclear situation at Gazprom

While Veltins would remain the name sponsor of the arena in the event of a relegation to the second division, no decision has yet been made at Gazprom.

This was also made known at the online event.

According to information from “Sport Bild”, the contract with the Russian energy company, which Schalke currently still guarantees an annual base amount of 20 million euros, could end in the summer.

That became public in January.

Accordingly, the sponsorship agreement, which actually runs until 2022, does not apply to the second division, the contract with the Russian oil giant would have to be renegotiated in the event of relegation.

However, one hears from the company that Gazprom is extremely dissatisfied with the development.

The gas supplier Gazprom has been Schalker's main sponsor since 2007

Source: Bongarts / Getty Images / Christof Koepsel

With the ex-supervisory board chairman Clemens Tönnies, the man who negotiated the contracts with Gazprom in the past is no longer in the club.

Schalke threatens a million minus.

And contract negotiations with a new supplier who would hardly enter the financial framework that Umbro had concluded with the then runner-up Schalke.