Olaf Scholz (64, front right) before the DFB women’s game against Sweden in Duisburg. © Fabian Strauch/dpa
The SPD politician said on Tuesday after a meeting with national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (55) and DFB boss Bernd Neuendorf (61) immediately before the international match of the German soccer players against Sweden on ZDF.
“If you can keep that in mind, I’ll stay on the ball. I’ll continue to do that,” said Scholz.
He knows that the willingness to get involved in the topic has increased. “That’s at least a good sign,” said the Chancellor. Scholz had already campaigned last year for German national players to receive the same bonuses. “I talk about these things, I did that too,” said Scholz.
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The unequal bonuses were a big topic at the 2022 women’s European Championship in England, and the Chancellor also got involved. The DFB women would have received 60,000 euros per player for the title.
For men, 400,000 were offered at the European Championships the year before. There would have been the same sum for every player for a World Cup triumph in Qatar, but the German men failed in the preliminary round last year.
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (55, left) welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment. © Fabian Strauch/dpa
“We are delighted that Olaf Scholz is a guest at our first international match this year,” said Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (55).
“It’s a strong sign at the start of this sportingly important World Cup year! The meeting with the Federal Chancellor before the game was an interesting, first exchange that we would like to maintain and continue in the future.”
“We experienced a lot of enthusiasm for the football that the women played at the European Championship. Now we have to show that it should continue like this,” said Scholz before kick-off on ZDF. “You can see that something has started to move.”
Scholz wants to regulate Lambrecht’s successor “promptly”.
Many spectators would come, more than was the case a long time ago. He hopes that the trend will continue and that he can “amplify it a little bit”.
