When asked
whether she sounds an alarm on entering the locker room to ensure her male
players cover up, BV Cloppenburg female coach Imke Wuebbenhorst replied that
she's a "professional" and bases her selections on "penis
length" (AFP Photo/Odd ANDERSEN)
Berlin
(AFP) - The first woman to coach a men's team in one of Germany's top five
leagues is tackling sexism by sarcastically suggesting her selections are based
on penis lengths.
Former
Germany women's Under-20 midfielder Imke Wuebbenhorst was last month appointed
head coach of the men's team at BV Cloppenburg, who currently sit bottom of the
Lower Saxony Oberliga in the fifth tier of German football.
When German
newspaper Welt jokingly asked whether she sounds an alarm on entering the
dressing room, to ensure her players cover themselves up, the tough-talking
blonde gave a cutting answer.
"Of
course not, I am a professional -- I base my selections on penis lengths,"
the 30-year-old replied sarcastically.
Having hung
up her boots in 2016 after a career which saw Wuebbenhorst twice win the
European title with Germany's Under-19 team and played in the women's
Bundesliga for Hamburg, she ended up coaching the women's side in Cloppenburg
after playing for the team.
She refuses
to see herself as a pioneer for other women.
"The
topic bounces off me. I want to be judged on performances, not on whether I'm a
woman or a man," she told Cloppenburg's website.
"I
don't have a problem commanding authority -- I'm a teacher."
The
presence of a female head coach in Germany's lower leagues has attracted plenty
of media attention, but Wuebbenhorst is focused solely on the task in hand.
"We
only have 12 games left to stay in the league. It's going to be a tough
job," she said.
"Several
of my peers have described my new task as a suicide mission, and asked me why I
do such a thing, but other clubs are not exactly lining up for me.
"The
only fear I have is that a relegation would be blamed on the fact that I am a
woman."
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