BERLIN: Despite past criticism for opting to hold their January training camps in Qatar, German champions Bayern Munich have signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Doha airport.

“I am pleased to welcome Doha airport as a sponsor from the tourism industry,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in a statement.

“This partnership is a further step in our international strategy.” Doha’s Hamad International Airport is the tenth company to buy a platinum-level sponsorship package with Bayern and will advertise at the club’s Allianz Arena stadium.

The deal with the airport, which opened in 2014, is set to earn Bayern several million euros per season.

Bayern have held a winter training camp in Qatar’s capital Doha for the last six years, which regularly draws criticism in Germany over the Arab state’s human right violations.