“Treated like an object”
Liverpool professional stalked: man pleads guilty
December 8, 2025 – 7:43 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
A Liverpool FC player is stalked and receives inappropriate messages. Now the person responsible will be held accountable.
His actions now have consequences: A 42-year-old man from London has been charged with stalking soccer player Marie Hobinger and repeatedly sending her inappropriate and sexualized messages on social media. He pleaded guilty at Liverpool Magistrates Court on Thursday. He is due to be sentenced at Westminster Magistrates Court in January. This is reported by the US media “The Athletic”.
The man is said to have sent Hobinger the messages via Instagram between January 27, 2025 and February 16, 2025. He also gave the Liverpool FC player his cell phone number and postal code. He also asked her to visit him and also hinted at coming to Liverpool FC games to see Hobinger.
The report also cites a statement from the British public prosecutor’s office. Sarah McInerney, the lead prosecutor, explains that the perpetrator “targeted Hobinger and treated her like an object with which he could live out his fantasies.” The messages the man wrote were “intense, continuous and completely inappropriate.” They would have had a “serious impact” on Hobinger.
The Austrian is said to have informed her club in response to the news and also blocked the man on social media. Out of concern for her safety at games, Liverpool FC provided Hobinger with a security officer. He was alerted during the game at Manchester City in mid-February. The reason: The stalker waited for Hobinger on the sidelines after the final whistle.
The man is said to have admitted to the police that he had stalked the national team player. According to the public prosecutor’s office, he described himself as “mentally ill.” McInerney described the man’s behavior as “criminal”. It will “not be tolerated in a fair and equal society.”
Hobinger has been playing for Liverpool FC since 2023. The 24-year-old wore the Turbine Potsdam jersey from 2015 to 2021. She is currently missing from her club and the national team due to a torn cruciate ligament that she suffered in October.