Austria: a soccer club sponsored by a Cannabis cuttings producer

Wiener Viktoria, an Austrian fourth-division soccer club, has had a new sponsor since November: the company Flowery Field, which specializes in growing and selling cannabis cuttings.

The club is currently in 11th place in its division. Its coach is an Austrian soccer legend, Toni Polster, who holds the record for most goals scored for the Austrian national team.

«Of course, a producer of Cannabis »It's an unusual sponsor,« Toni told local media. The club president, for his part, welcomes the arrival of this sponsor: "Our principle of openness also applies to our sponsors. We have no problem with the sale of hemp cuttings for adults.". Flowery Field »is a well-established company and a producer of medical hemp. We are pleased with this relationship.".

The club was previously sponsored by a beer brand, Gösser, and two gambling brands, Cashpoint and Austrian Lotteries.

Sponsorship by Flowery Field was signed for one year. Under the terms of the agreement, 30% of the funds will go to charities through the VIK Sozial association, which is affiliated with the soccer club.

Its president, Otto Lesch, is also an expert on addiction and its treatment. He has, in fact, been advocating for many years for broader access to medical cannabis and its legalization.

«There is no society without drugs. The more we invest in prevention and education, the better the protection, awareness, and social support will be,» he explains.

As for Toni Polster, he says he won’t take a stance on the issue. «I’m a soccer coach, not a political activist. But based on my experience with kids: what’s forbidden is appealing.”. This ban isn't working »and criminalizes the bad guys.".

The cannabis is illegal in Austria, but growing hemp is permitted as long as the plants have not begun to flower. Possession of less than 10 grams of cannabis has not been subject to criminal prosecution since 1971, and it is estimated that‘About 250,000 clones are sold" every year in Vienna.

Medical cannabis is permitted in the form of Sativex and Dronabinol, but not in the form of dried flowers.