Everything should get better at the German Football Association after the disappointing World Cup. A task force is to set the course for the future. But this body itself causes a lot of criticism. In an interview, she explains why ex-national player Tabea Kemme is dissatisfied, what she wants to do better and why it can only be done together.
ntv.de: The World Cup final is coming up, Germany is not there and yet the focus is on the DFB. You have sharply criticized the task force deployed. People like to say that anyone who calls for change should also tackle it themselves. Did the DFB ask you if you want that? Would you be ready for a job in the association?
Tabea Kemme: I wasn’t asked. I wasn’t an issue at all. However, during the live broadcast on MagentaTV with Johannes B. Kerner and Bernd Neuendorf (DFB President, editor’s note) I can get in touch at any time as long as I’m interested. Then of course I tapped the number directly into my cell phone and called through. That will amount to a meeting in January to have this exchange, to set topics that have shaped me a lot in my career, also at the DFB. All that glitters is not always gold. But let me put it this way, I would like to see the values ??that sport has taught me in the whole construct. I really miss the fact that this is presented transparently.
What is the reason you want to get involved?
I am now 31 years old. For twelve years, from the youth national teams to the A-Team, I was always subordinate to the principle of loyalty in the DFB, and I also had my inner struggles, which we always addressed and critically examined. Ultimately, I always had to scale back as a person when taking the measures. On the other hand, there is always the demand that we need more leaders. But if we can’t break that framework, then it’s a vicious circle.
It goes with the fact that you are critical of the fact that decisions are always made about those who are active and that they are not involved. Does that do something to your own thinking?
Definitely! I’ll put it this way: you toughen up. One is always signaled that in the end I’m just the protagonist on the pitch and that’s my job, in which I should please perform. Then maybe later we can talk about doing something else.
But isn’t that contradictory when football professionals are supposed to take the masses with them with their personality at the same time?
Exactly. Especially since it is always said that I should perform to the maximum. Sure, intrinsically I’m always motivated as an athlete. But there is more to it than just physical performance, it also involves identification. It does something to you when you have the whole country behind you, when you have such a great connection with the viewers. If you can just celebrate this awesome football festival, everyone hugs and celebrates it hard because it’s just a nice atmosphere.
But at the moment it is absolutely against each other and there is also the criticism that the media are now also opposed to it. I think you missed this momentum of absolute transparency. The crisis communication is really insufficient on the part of the DFB. Because it’s actually a privilege for me as a public figure to be able to play football and earn my money with it, to be able to represent an entire country. I see it as my duty to provide a certain degree of transparency.
And now that you’re swearing at the media, it all fits together really well, because it’s just going shitty. I miss that admission: Okay guys, that went really bad. Sure, first of all on the pitch, but overall we have a lot to work through.
You have denounced that the past should cure the future. That only older men who already had a lot to say belong to the task force. To what extent would the sport, football itself, benefit if the DFB repositioned itself differently?
Then we would assume responsibility for what sport can achieve. We are the association with the most members and I have the feeling that there is a huge discrepancy. In the end, the World Cup was just the icing on the cake, which clearly showed that Germany doesn’t really identify with football and with the DFB at the moment. It’s a bitter defeat that you’ve managed to widen this gap even further over the years. As much as I liked wearing the federal eagle on my chest, as proud as I could be proud of being able to represent my own country internationally, I feel little this identification at the moment. That hurts. That I’ve done so much for the sport, given so much and I actually always get a lot back, but only at the level of the player. Of course, when the success is there, we don’t have to talk about it, then everyone is happy. But I think that now in a phase where you are not successful, your true character often comes out and I find that a bit sad.
So it’s more about identification and closeness to fans for you than the further development of the sport itself?
I think identification comes with the way we practice sport, how we live the values ??in sport, that’s one thing for me. This gives the viewers this feeling: “Whoa, awesome, I want to identify with that, I’m inspired, I buy this damn expensive jersey because I’m a fan of it.” This feeling has been lost because sorry, but what should I identify with? The players are kept small, that’s the way it is in this system. I have no orientation with this association, with this sport of football.
What you described earlier: inspire the masses, be successful, celebrate together with the fans, they buy jerseys. That all happened this summer, just for the women of the DFB. Shouldn’t the association just look at itself and find out: Actually, we can do it.
Exactly. That’s an aspect during the World Cup, too, because Almuth Schult is an active player on ARD, not a former player like me. Nevertheless, you are so focused on men’s football and that nobody really wants men’s football, with what’s going on at the moment. But let’s please make sure that we have the women’s World Cup next year. We celebrated so blatantly together this summer. There is also a documentary (“Born for this – More than football” by ARD, Sky, MagentaTV, Warner Bros., DFB, VW and Adidas, editor’s note) about the women who make you think, okay, these aren’t extraterrestrials living on another planet, they’re actually just like us, because that’s what we embody.
You should create added value, celebrate football together and not differentiate it. This is also a bitter disappointment in all the discussions. To say at the DFB “We are now only focusing on men’s football” is the worst foul. Ouch, you just didn’t understand anything. That there is such a clear distinction between men’s football and women’s football, even in the largest association. You can see the value again.
That’s not only the case with the association, but the killer argument is often: women have no place in men’s football. How do you answer the people who say that?
I have compassion for these people. I’ve been able to learn a lot about that, I’ve been exposed to it since I was 14 years old. Ultimately, I make it clear that we share the same passion and dedication to this sport. Then I try to create a momentum, to have an exchange at eye level, and – that’s the art – to generate this realization in the other person, often a man: Why do I actually differentiate? They are often stuck in these prejudices: women’s football is so slow and what you can always listen to there. When playing football itself, it often happens to me – I often gamble with and against men – that you meet as equals and I can show that we are actually the same, apart from the different gender norms in which we are stuck.
But something happens when even the hardcore fans of HSV want to support the women in the regional league with 2000 people at the soccer field. Then you realize that it’s not so bad after all.
Does that mean you’re not giving up hope that something will change at the DFB? It’s not that long before the home EM 2024.
Always. So I take the opportunity to meet Bernd Neuendorf. I have been critical of the gentlemen in the task force, but there is no point in only rudely condemning them. It’s about the exchange, what is the feeling of the players? Ultimately, they want exactly the same thing at the DFB, namely that things go up again. And that’s where I want to take advantage of the moment, not just to swear, but also to exchange ideas together and try to get better again.
We all still have the mood of 2006 in mind, from the Summer Fairy Tale World Cup. Is it too lofty a goal for football Germany to get there again?
That stands or falls with those responsible. I’m very inspired by Lise Klaveness, the president of the Norwegian Football Association. When she came into office, she conducted a survey on the wishes and goals of the members. Ultimately, it’s about representing what everyone wants from above. For the DFB that would be: What does the football nation Germany want? Beyond values, beyond sustainability, because ultimately we just feel like celebrating 90 minutes of football, what should that include? Having this awareness is about you. The DFB should be totally in the background.
Everyone has to think carefully: What is my role? Do I have this function because I really want the function or because of the cause? We all have to look honestly in the mirror, everyone has the answer within themselves. There is a lot of energy in turning things around.
Anja Rau spoke to Tabea Kemme