Remarkable news from German football. Heiko Vogel, the U23 coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach, misbehaved on the sidelines and was punished for it. One of his tasks: to train the women’s team.
Vogel, who also played in the Champions League with FC Basel during his coaching career, got two matches for ‘unsportsmanlike’ behavior towards referee Marcel Benkhoff and his assistants Vanessa Arlt and Nadine Westerhoff during his team’s match against Bergisch Gladbach in the regional fourth division.
The 45-year-old German was also fined 1,500 euros and has to give six training sessions to the women’s team or a girls’ team. Vogel will receive this from the local football association until June 30.
“This is a very bad message,” says Nicole Selmer of the organization ‘Frauen im Fussball’ at ESPN. “It shows that whatever level women and girls play, they will never be taken as seriously as men and boys. The punishment for Vogel also puts a women’s team at the level of social work, but it is not. Women’s football is a sport and those who participate in it are just as professional as their male counterparts. ”
It is currently unknown when Vogel will carry out his sentence. This weekend he will already be on the bench again with the promises of Mönchengladbach.
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