Sabine Töpperwien: The football commentator is retiring after more than 30 years

Sabine Töpperwien
The football commentator is retiring after more than 30 years

Always on the ball since 1989: sports reporter Sabine Töpperwien

© WDR / Herby Sachs

She is considered a pioneer of German sports journalism: Sabine Töpperwien. At the age of 60, she took early retirement.

For more than 30 years and in over 700 football matches, she passionately commented on what was happening on the green lawn. At the age of 60, Sabine Töpperwien (60, "Tooor in Germany!"), The younger sister of Rolf Töpperwien (70), will now retire early. This was announced by WDR, where the sports journalist had been permanently employed since 1989. In the same year, during the European Championship in 1989, she immediately commented on the first live game of a German women's national team – the semi-final against Italy.

She also made history as the first woman to report live from a football stadium. For some archaic, male radio listeners, an affront back then. "A woman on the soccer reporter's Holy See – that couldn't be," they said, for example, "she remembers that time. And one or the other coach did not take her seriously at first. "Otto Rehhagel once replied that I had never smelled the sweat of a cabin. And Christoph Daum advised me to send my brother in. For a long time, women had a much, much more difficult time in the reporting business.

Farewell to the "pioneer"

WDR director Tom Buhrow said goodbye to her with the words: "Sabine Töpperwien is a pioneer and a living legend of German sports reporting. I will very much miss her distinctive voice, her passionate football comments and her excellent sports skills. I wish her very much Hearts all the best. "

In addition to football, Töpperwien also commented on the Olympic Games, figure skating and table tennis. In 2001 she was appointed head of the WDR radio sports department, and in 2006 she was appointed head of the radio team for ARD. Your career end, which comes into effect at the end of the month, has health reasons, it is said.

SpotOnNews