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ARD football expert Bastian Schweinsteiger
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Matthias Balk / dpa
Former national soccer player Bastian Schweinsteiger remains an ARD TV expert. This was confirmed by the public broadcasting association on Friday. "In the past few days, extensive talks between ARD and Bastian Schweinsteiger have taken place," it said in a message. Schweinsteiger “said he was sorry that his social media activities during the half-time break in the broadcast of the quarter-final game England - Ukraine gave the first the impression that he was mixing his work as an ARD expert with advertising for sponsors. «This was not what Schweinsteiger intended.
The first had previously checked Schweinsteiger's appearance on the TV broadcast of the European Championship and the placement of a tweet with an advertising message for two weeks.
WDR, which was in charge of the EM, had stated several times that he had asked Schweinsteiger and his management "to comment on the incident".
In addition, the station said it had "made it very clear to the former professional that the ARD, according to its guidelines, does not tolerate any form of surreptitious advertising and unrecognized product placement of its protagonists."
He had "published a post on social media at half-time without our knowledge as part of a paid advertising partnership," as WDR wrote.
The tweet was then no longer available.
Advertising message for a men's watch
A post with two pictures was previously shown on Schweinsteiger's account, one of which was a section on which the watch on his wrist was the focus.
This was clearly visible during the TV broadcast.
There was also a link to the manufacturer, for whom he has been working as a brand ambassador since 2019.
Both sides agree "that Bastian Schweinsteiger will do everything possible to prevent such an incident from happening again," said ARD.
"Confidentiality was agreed on the exact content of the talks." The soccer world champion from 2014 has been working for the first since last year.
The contract is valid up to and including 2022.
cev / dpa
