Rio world champion as an expert
Schweinsteiger’s TV future has been decided
01/10/2023, 7:14 p.m
ARD will continue working with Bastian Schweinsteiger as a TV expert until 2024. The 38-year-old ex-national player will also accompany the European Championship in Germany for the broadcaster after much praise for his commitment at the World Cup in Qatar.
After the World Cup in Qatar there was a lack of clarity, now the new contract is a done deal: Bastian Schweinsteiger remains an ARD expert. This was announced by the TV station on Tuesday. The cooperation between the 38-year-old ex-professional from FC Bayern and ARD will now run until 2024.
“I am very pleased that we are continuing the successful cooperation beyond the home EM 2024. As a sports show team, we always aim to develop further in order to offer the viewers the best entertainment and information,” said Schweinsteiger.
ARD sports coordinator Axel Balkausky explained: “We basically agreed with Bastian Schweinsteiger last year that we want to continue on our common path.” The 2014 World Champion has “shown over the last three years that he is not only an entertaining conversationalist, but also an excellent analyst. At the same time, he also dares to name and classify critical topics – he has done that in the context of football World Cup clearly shown”, praised Balkausky. “It is therefore a great pleasure for us that we can go with him as an expert in the upcoming live football games with the highlight of EURO 2024 in our own country,” said the ARD sports coordinator.
Almost the end after half-time scandal
Schweinsteiger has been on the first show since the summer of 2020. At the beginning of his expert work, especially during the EM 2021, he was met with loud criticism. The career as a TV expert in the first was almost over by then. During the European Championship game Ukraine against England, he “published a post on social media during the half-time break without our knowledge as part of a paid advertising partnership,” said ARD about a year and a half ago. After the warning from the broadcaster and his apology, Schweinsteiger was allowed to continue and go to the World Cup. However, the 121-time national player received good reviews for his appearance in front of the camera in Qatar in a team with presenter Esther Sedlaczek.
After 17 years at Bayern, Schweinsteiger also played for Manchester United and Chicago Fire during his active career. At the beginning of October 2019 he announced his resignation.