The German Football Association (GFS) has condemned the racist and discriminatory remarks that were made on various social media pages against Marie-Louise Etta – the first woman to become the coach of a men's team in the Bundesliga. Etta made her debut at the helm of Union (Berlin) yesterday with a home defeat by Wolfsburg, and the appointment itself was widely reported around the world, BTA reported.
“The comments are unacceptable. They are not directed at just one person, but question values that are fundamental to our sport: respect, justice and equality“, GFS Vice President Celia Sasic told the news portal t-online today.
But although at the Union stadium – The “Old Forestry“ in the Köpenick district greeted her exit from the tunnel with thunderous cheers and applause, and she continued to receive hateful comments on social media after the match. Her club was forced to respond directly to some of them, which Šašić said was “absolutely the right thing to do“.
She said the federation was ready to deal with this wave of hate and similar messages against ETA during matches. Šašić said the GFU had its own levers and would forward these messages to the prosecutor's office if necessary.
“As a uniform rule for everyone, the GFU monitors every match very closely when it comes to discrimination or inappropriate behavior. We have zero tolerance for sexist or discriminatory incidents“, she added.
The coach herself said that such things do not bother her and that she tries to do her job professionally. “This behavior says more about the people who post such things than about the people they are aimed at“, said the coach of the Berlin team.
Her presence yesterday turned out to be more important than the match itself, in which the guests from Wolfsburg left with the points and the hope that they will survive against the best.
“Revolution in the Bundesliga: Marie-Louise Etta debuts as coach of Union Berlin“, wrote the popular Argentine publication “Ole“ in its material about the Boca Juniors – River Plate derby, adding it as a reference. “A historic day for German football“.
And the coach was closely followed by a crowd of photographers as she went to give her first post-match interview to the cameraman who owned the rights.