WM and EM
For the first time a woman will comment on the final
Will comment on the final of the European Football Championship 2021: Julia Metzner
© SWR / Alexander Kluge
For the first time, a woman will comment on the finals of the EM and World Cup on the ARD radio. Julia Metzner was chosen for the first tournament.
When the European championship takes place in summer 2021 and the world championship in men's football in winter 2022, at least radio listeners will experience something historical regardless of the outcome of the tournaments. As has now been announced, the respective finals of the two major sporting events will be "commented on by women on all ARD radio waves". This is a novelty at both the European Championships and the World Cup: a woman has never been allowed to comment on what is happening on the green lawn in a final game.
Valerie Weber, WDR program director and chairwoman of the ARD audio program conference (APK), describes this decision as a sign that "we are serious and we want to advance women in sport". In addition, it is "also a bow to the long-time head of sports broadcasting Sabine Töpperwien. With her quote that she will probably never see a woman commenting on a World Cup in the final, she got the ball rolling for us bosses."
Julia Metzner nominated
Töpperwien, who is resigning from her position as head of the sports department at WDR radio at the end of the month for health reasons and is retiring early, was presented with this decision framed.
It has not yet been decided who will be honored at the World Cup in Qatar. Julia Metzner was chosen for the final of the European Football Championship, which is to take place from June 11 to July 11, 2021. She commented "regularly in front of eight million listeners in the Bundesliga conference of the ARD radio waves and is doing a great job there. She deserves this final," said Steffen Simon, EURO 2020 team manager for ARD.