The next World Cup final should be commented on by a woman.
The promise of the ARD is a kind of legacy for the pioneering work of Sabine Töpperwien.
Sabine Töpperwien * is ending her career as a sports journalist.
As a thank you for her many years of work, ARD made her a special gift.
The next World Cup final will be commented on by a woman (at least on the radio).
Cologne -
Sabine Töpperwien
ends her work as a sports journalist after more than 30 years.
Born in Lower Saxony, in 1989 she was the first woman to comment on a football match live on television in Germany.
In the past decades,
Töpperwien
could be heard regularly on television and radio and thus did pioneering work in the profession of sports journalist.
According to the WDR,
Töpperwien
has
commented on a total of more than 700 football games, almost 600 of them in the Bundesliga *.
The end of my career as a journalist has health reasons, as it says on the WDR website: “I am now 60 and have had chronic pain in the nerves and tendons of both arms for almost a year.
This is a consequence of the increasing amount of computer work.
Working at half steam - I don't want that. "
Sabine Töpperwien: A “legend of sports journalism” ends - and receives a big farewell present
Her
colleague
Katrin Müller-Hohenstein
described
Töpperwien
as a “pioneer who pushed the door open a little to many other women after her.
About me, ”WDR director
Tom Buhrow
even called her a“ legend of sports journalism ”.
As a big thank you for her many years of work, including as head of sports at WDR 2,
ARD has
now given her a special gift - a kind of legacy for her career.
Töpperwien was
promised in a
certificate
that the final of the
2022 World Cup in Qatar
* on
ARD radio would
definitely be commented on by a woman.
The 60-year-old explained to
Bild
: "I was blown away yesterday when our WDR program director (
Valerie Weber, d. Ed.
)
Presented me with
this certificate as a farewell gift."
+
She feels most comfortable at the microphone: Sabine Töpperwien.
© Dirk Borm / dpa
Sabine Töpperwien: World Cup final commented by a woman - ARD wants to "promote women in sport"
Among other things, it says: “The audio program conference unanimously resolves that the final of the
2022 World Cup in Qatar
should be commented on by a reporter on the ARD radio waves.” This decision should “underline the APK's wish to have women in the sport of ARD continues to promote. "
Töpperwien
himself had indirectly given the impetus for this decision.
In several interviews over the past few days, the former table tennis player complained that she “will not live to see a woman broadcasting the finals for the radio or television at a European football championship or World Cup.” The responsible directors of ARD would have said these statements “very much given
something
to think about ”, as
Töpperwien
now explained.
Sabine Töpperwien: 2022 World Cup final commented by woman - Baczyk or a newcomer?
The question remains who should comment on the 2022 final?
The ARD announced that with a view to the final “several colleagues should be built up”.
An obvious cast is
Stephanie Baczyk
.
The 34-year-old has been working for the
sports show
since the 2019/20 season
and has received a lot of praise for her reporting - also on social media.
Baczyk
admires the work of Töpperwien and recently told
Spiegel
: "It is
thanks to Sabine's
that women are more natural at the start in football today." However, it is also conceivable that
ARD will fill
the position with another commentator - and thus another woman established in sports reporting.
The ARD will have some time
until the
World Cup final
.
The tournament begins in 662 days.
* Like Merkur.de, tz.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network