The sports market has developed further due to supply and demand, but Mario Basler has not. On the contrary. Basler’s sexist attitude shows that he is stuck in the past. In patriarchal structures that have long since lost their place in today’s society.
Instead of acknowledging the development, Basler reacts defensively and behaves like a defiant child. “It’s not a women’s sport,” he says. That’s not an argument, he’s simply excluding an entire sport and its players. And his provocations have exactly the opposite effect of what he actually wants to downplay: every outrageous statement, every debate about it draws additional attention to women’s football as an integral part of today’s sports world.
So the real problem isn’t that Basel doesn’t like women’s football. It is the matter-of-fact way with which he wants to declare an entire sport invalid. As if Mario Basler, who became European champion in 1996 and didn’t even stand on the pitch for a minute, could single-handedly stop social and economic development.
Lotte Specht founded the first women’s team in 1930 because women can do what men can do – in Basler’s case even better. Alexandra Popp was cup winner 13 times, European runner-up and German champion seven times. Ariane Hingst is even twice world champion and four times European champion. Women’s football no longer needs legitimacy; it has long been established. Anyone who can’t stand this primarily describes their own standstill.
