After incident of discrimination
DFB is sticking with the national player despite the ban
01/29/2026 – 4:39 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Rafaela Borggräfe remains part of the expanded women’s national team pool. The association considers the incident of discrimination to be closed after internal processing.
The German Football Association has come forward despite a six-week ban for making a discriminatory statement about goalkeeper Rafaela Borggräfe. The 25-year-old remains part of the expanded pool of the women’s national team after reflecting on the incident and working through it with the association.
The English FA had retroactively suspended the Liverpool FC goalkeeper for six games in mid-January. The penalty came into force before the game against Arsenal on December 6th. Borggräfe is said to have made a discriminatory remark at a team photo appointment in early September 2024.
The former Bundesliga goalkeeper for SC Freiburg had already served five of the six games and was eligible to play again in the league game against Tottenham on January 25th. She wasn’t in the squad for the 2-0 win.
The DFB said: “Rafaela Borggräfe has accepted the procedure and reflected on the incident.” In addition, what happened was processed with Borggräfe “with the involvement of the technical expertise of our DFB Vice President for Equality and Diversity, Célia Šašić”. As part of the punishment, the goalkeeper is said to have agreed to take part in an educational program.
Borggräfe was last nominated for the national team in October. She has not yet played an international match for national coach Christian Wück’s selection.
