Sexual assault?
Athletics association shows former trainers
05.09.2025 – 9:58 p.m.Reading time: 1 min.
Serious allegations against a former athletics trainer are made in reports. This rejects everything, but his former association reacts.
The Lower Saxony Athletics Association (NLV) has filed a criminal complaint against a former national coach. The association announced this on its website. The background is research by the magazine “ZDF frontal” and the newspaper “the world”.
In an official communication, NLV President Uwe Schünemann commented on the allegations: “Of course, until the opposite of the state coach, the presumption of innocence applies.”
And further: “At the same time, however, there have recently been allegations that may be relevant to criminal misconduct, a behavior that is said to have been perceived by affected athletes at least sexually.” In view of this, the association “asked the responsible public prosecutor’s office in Hanover for a criminal review”.
In his upcoming edition (Tuesday), “ZDF Frontal” reports that the trainer has the allegations rejected by his lawyer, this writes of “baseless and unproven allegations”. The NLV had already ended the employment relationship with the trainer in 2022. At that time, the association had no evidence of criminal behavior.
The NLV has currently “provided a support offer to the athletes in order to support those affected with the expertise of the association,” said Schünemann. It is “the same as whether it is legal steps or psychological support to process the events in the best possible way”.