Eta appointment: Token or door-opener for women?

Eintracht Braunschweig president Nicole Kumpis stands in front of the Eintracht Braunschweig logo. Swen Pförtner/dpa

Eintracht Braunschweig president Nicole Kumpis has hailed the appointment of Marie-Louise Eta at Union Berlin but is among those saying that existing football structures make it difficult for more women to have a coaching career in Germany.

Kumpis was a trailblazer herself when she was elected president of the second division club in 2022.

Eta became the first woman to coach a men's team in a European top league when she succeeded Steffen Baumgart on Saturday which has generated huge media attention in Germany and abroad but also online abuse.

Structural problems

"I know Marie-Louise, I was very happy for her and wished her a lot of success for this task. But at the same time we are not where we should be in 2026 because such moves should no longer be something exceptional," Kumpis told dpa.

"There is no lack of skill but of structural conditions and opportunities.

"It is therefore even more important that more women become visible and enter leading positions in professional football - on the coaching bench, in management or in committees."

Male dominance

Claudia Neumann, the first woman to commentate a men's match on German TV at Euro 2016 which made her the target of wide-ranging abuse, struck a similar line.

“The existing structures are clearly geared towards male football coaches and systematically make it difficult for women to enter the profession and progress,” Neumann told dpa.

“In the coaching sector, licences must be obtained, yet even in recent years there have only been a few token women.

"The requirements for access to these courses present high hurdles for women. In particular, providing evidence of practical experience quickly becomes a challenge, because even the first steps into these areas are difficult to take," Neumann said.

Media studies expert Daniel Schaaf from Cologne's sports university told Deutschlandfunk radio: “Football is a sacred cow in Germany. And there, a woman is seen as an intruder, so people tend to try to get rid of the competition.”

DFB initiative

The German governing body DFB started an initiative to get significantly more women involved in 2021.

Six of the 14 women's Bundesliga teams have a female coach but there were only two women from the 50 people who obtained the highest DFB coaching licence, the pro licence, over the past two years: Sabrina Wittmann from men's third division side Ingolstadt and Eva-Maria Virsinger from women's Bundesliga team Hoffenheim.

The DFB has nonetheless said: "Compared with all other European national associations, the DFB has trained the most female coaches with a pro licence – 31 in total."

The DFB told dpa on Wednesday that it awards a certain number of scholarships each year to female coaches at various licence levels – “the investment runs into six digit figures”.

There is also a DFB B-licence specifically for female goalkeeping coaches, fully funded through a development programme from the ruling body FIFA.

The federation said that active national team players are also being given the opportunity to obtain an entry-level coaching licence. According to DFB statistics, the number of women graduating with coaching licences has risen across all courses from 2025 to 2026.

New FIFA rules

FIFA meanwhile made it mandatory for women's teams to have a female head coach or assistant coach for its events such as the World Cup.

At the 2023 World Cup, only 12 of the 32 teams had a female coach. The next edition is next year.

"There are simply not enough women in coaching today. We must do more to accelerate change by creating clearer pathways, expanding opportunities, and increasing the visibility for women on our sidelines," FIFA chief football officer Jill Ellis said.

Germany has fulfilled the criteria through Maren Meinert and Saskia Bartusiak as assistants of head coach Christian Wück.

Risks for Eta

Imke Wübbenhorst, who in 2020 coached men's fourth-tier side Lotte and is now in charge of Young Boys' women's team in Switzerland said that Eta's appointment means progress but also warned that failure could lead to consequences.

“I hope she scores the points too, because otherwise people will keep bringing up the fact that she’s a woman. That wouldn’t be fair,” Wübbenhorst told dpa.

French footballer Lucas Tousart, who played for Union when Eta was assistant coach for a while, also sees a potential problem.

"It’s more about the interpersonal side of things. She’ll have to make decisions, take a clear stance and create some distance. That’s a role that’s harder to manage,’ Tousart told L’Équipe sports daily.

Kompany upbeat

Union have been on the forefront of equality for years, and Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany believes that Eta's appointment will be a boost.

‘This opens up opportunities for young girls who are currently playing football and now think, 'I could become a coach anywhere, be very successful and have a proper career'," Kompany said.