“It will take years”
Claudia Neumann classifies Eta promotion
April 14, 2026 – 7:16 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Marie-Louise Eta takes over as coach at 1. FC Union Berlin. This also pleases commentator Claudia Neumann.
1. FC Union Berlin has promoted previous assistant coach Marie-Louise Eta to head coach. The 34-year-old is the first woman to take on this position at a Bundesliga club. Sports commentator Claudia Neumann welcomes the move, but still sees a long way to go for women in men’s football.
The 62-year-old told the German Press Agency: “It will take years until real equality is achieved. But you have to cut the gap first and that’s why I think it’s great that Marie-Louise Eta is taking this step. Her promotion triggers further development.”
Neumann “celebrate this. My first thought was: a charming, clever and consistent step by President Dirk Zingler.” She ventured a prediction: “Marie-Louise Eta is also an extremely competent trainer who absolutely deserves this opportunity. It won’t be a failure – she will do the job well.”
The commentator knows the terrain from her own experience. In 2016, she was the first woman to sit at the microphone at a men’s European Championship game. Since then, she has regularly faced hateful and sexist comments. “We’re talking about social problems here: hate on the internet, misogyny, the aggressive treatment of one another that we’ve almost become accustomed to,” said Neumann, who says she doesn’t use social media.
DFB Vice President Célia Šašić also sees the decision as a role model. In an RTL/ntv interview she said: “Someone opened the door a little bit.” At a high level, gender is irrelevant. “The players just want to win games. I don’t think they want to open up any other topic. And in the end, as it is in competitive sports: the results count,” Šašić continued.
