The teams were also allowed to nominate 26 players at the men’s European Championship last year. UEFA made the decisions for women when the corona situation in Europe improved, said a spokesman for the umbrella organization of the German Press Agency. “And even more important given the fact that unlike 2020/2021, the 2021/2022 season was a normal season according to the calendar.”
“We also analyzed the players’ performance at last year’s (men’s) European Championship. Despite the larger number of teams and an extra round of matches, only two teams played more than 23 players,” the UEFA spokesman continued.
Voss-Tecklenburg: “That contradicts me as an athlete”
At the Women’s European Championship, no subsequent nominations are allowed even after the first game. Exceptions are goalkeepers. “That doesn’t correspond to my personal concept of fair play,” said Voss-Tecklenburg. “That contradicts me as a sportswoman and I ask UEFA to consider this for future tournaments.” There are also other teams with isolated corona cases at the European Championship.
In the case of the DFB women, captain Alexandra Popp was already caught in preparation in Herzogenaurach. Voss-Tecklenburg described in detail how sensitive the German delegation was to corona measures. “We also know that like many other teams, we don’t have an exclusive hotel. We know that we are out and about in public areas and of course we knew that we could only maintain a bubble to a limited extent.”
The record European champions live in a separate wing of a hotel in Brentford, but don’t have the place all to themselves. While the German players, according to Voss-Tecklenburg, always wear a face mask in closed rooms – except when eating – and did so throughout the eight-hour journey from Germany, they encounter a completely different picture at the European Championship: In Great Britain, masks are no longer compulsory .
Public transport calls for this, but only a few people stick to it. Even at rush hour in the subway you only see a few passengers with them, and not with the fans in the stadiums anyway. “It feels like there is no more Covid here,” said Voss-Tecklenburg.