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National handball coach Markus Gaugisch has been the women's head coach since April 2022
Photo:
Marco Wolf / dpa
National coach Markus Gaugisch does not want to be distracted by the unrest in women's handball during the preparations for the European Championships, which start on Monday.
»Of course, the subject cannot be completely ignored.
It would also be strange if it were different," Gaugisch told the sports information service.
In its current issue, SPIEGEL has compiled serious allegations of psychological violence against long-time Bundesliga coach André Fuhr and reconstructed the abuse of power over the years.
National player Mia Zschocke, nominated for the European Championships in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro (November 4th to 20th), is also one of those affected.
Together with the currently injured national player Amelie Berger, she also called on the German Handball Association (DHB), which had employed the coach Fuhr on a fee basis as U20 national coach for three years until the end of August, to process the events.
The allegations are about intimidation, threats and harassment.
With words, comments, text messages and absurd regulations, until the women were completely terrified.
"André Fuhr broke us bit by bit," one of those affected, Anja Ernsberger, told SPIEGEL.
As with the most recent course in Hennef, national coach Gaugisch wants to give the topic space, "if there is a need for further discussion," he said: "Nevertheless, we should also look and focus on the preparation for the European Championship and then the tournament lay yourself.
The team did that professionally and well with the last measure and we will do it again now.«
League demands clarification
The allegations caused a stir in the league.
DHB, league and clubs "will have to think very seriously about what lessons and possible consequences can be drawn from this case," wrote Peter Prior, long-time manager of Buxtehuder SV, in a statement.
With regard to the duty of care, those responsible in the clubs for which the coach worked should ask themselves “whether they have fulfilled their responsibility towards the players.
The same applies to the DHB.«
In the league, however, not everyone should have reacted with surprise to the allegations.
According to SPIEGEL, they tell stories of players who ran away from Fuhr.
"This has been known in the league for years," says Maik Schenk, manager of Thüringer HC, a top club in the Bundesliga with seven championship titles.
National coach Gaugisch is expecting his 18 nominated handball players around the captains Emily Bölk and Alina Grijseels - who also worked with Fuhr at BVB - on Monday in Großwallstadt to start the preparations.
From there it's off to Tatabanya on October 30th for a three-nation tournament with hosts Hungary and Romania.
The team will then fly to Podgorica on November 1st.
In the preliminary group D, the selection of the German Handball Federation (DHB) fights against Poland (5 November/20:30), hosts Montenegro (7 November/18:00) and World Cup fourth-placed Spain (9 November/20:30) for a place in the main round.
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