Reinhard Rauball, President of the DFL and Tom Bender, Chief Marketing Officer of the DFL

The Bundesliga will be supporting Munich's bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018.This cooperation was announced today in Vancouver, where the current Olympic Games are held.

The cooperation will not involve any commercial support but is meant to include efforts which will promote the event publicly. Amongst other things it is planned to produce TV clips and use DFL owned media platforms such as Internet pages and stadium magazines to reach huge audiences.

"A cooperation with the Bundesliga proves that football, including the German Football Association, is supporting the Olympic bid. Millions are fascinated by football every week. This excitement will also help Munich's candidacy to host the Olympic Games. We acquired a strong partner, who will provide us with great support", Dr. Thomas Bach, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), said during a press conference in Vancouver.

"Professional football will gladly be of service to the sport family. During the Football World Cup 2006 in Germany we witnessed how much of a positive effect such a mass event can have on a whole country. It is our common goal to help Munich's bid to host the Olympic Winter Games 2018 get accepted", League President Dr. Reinhard Rauball added.

"The Bundesliga is one of the most important partners of sports in Germany in general. Building bridges between football and other sports works, and the successful cooperation between DFL and Sporthilfe (support for sport) proves that. The Bundesliga will open up a whole new lot of channels for Munich's 2018 candidacy in terms of communication", Dr. Michael Vesper, DOSB-General Manager and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of München 2018 explained.

"We will use the means of our media so that the Olympic dream of München 2018 can become true. Football has over 32 million fans in Germany, and all of them shall be united for this purpose. We want to send out a clear message to those who make the decision at the IOC: 'Professional football is backing the candidacy'", DFL Chief Marketing Officer Tom Bender said.

Willy Bogner, CEO of München 2018, concluded: "This cooperation is a good 'one-two' for us. We gained a very important 'team member' for our Olympic bid with the Bundesliga. And we are happy to have found another strong partner, who will support us in our effort to host the Olympic Winter Games.