Feb 26, 2026, 4:42 p.mFeb 26, 2026, 4:42 p.m
On February 23, a former referee and former coach of women’s football teams was sentenced in court to a seven-month suspended prison sentence.
He coached women at SCR Altach in Austria. There he filmed the players with hidden cameras in the dressing rooms and showers. Now the club’s former players are commenting on the incidents on Instagram.
Eleni Rittmann is playing football in Geneva today.Image: screenshot / instagram
The two players Eleni Rittmann and Ana Maria Marković both posted a video. Rittmann says in her video that she thought for a long time whether she should even comment on it. She ultimately decided to do so because she found the verdict against her ex-coach unfair, which is why she wanted to use her reach.
Rittmann was at SCR Altach in the 2023/24 season. The 25-year-old now plays for Thonon Évian GGFC in Geneva and has 203,000 followers on Instagram.
Rittmann says that for her the dressing room is a meeting place for teammates and colleagues. Private matters would be discussed there, as the women would grow together like a small family.
She says that things like this happen too often in women’s football, partly because they are sometimes swept under the carpet.
“If we as women simply accept this in women’s sports, nothing will ever change.”
Rittmann on incidents in women’s football
Finally, she says that she is speechless and wonders what needs to be done to protect players and women from such experiences.
Her former teammate Ana Maria Marković, who now plays for Brooklyn FC, also commented on the incident. The native Croatian finds similar words to Rittmann.
She says in the video that the closet is a place where women feel comfortable and vulnerable at the same time.
Because it is their everyday life, their workplace and feels like a second home. Marković emphasizes that this is her life and such incidents happen too often in women’s football. She also says that it was a shock and that she doesn’t think the sentence is appropriate.
The news of the hidden cameras would have left its mark on the women. They would have looked around for cameras in their current dressing rooms and felt unsafe in public gyms. They don’t know whether Marković and Rittmann can be seen in the videos, but they would assume so. The two women did not take part in the trial.
The former coach has to pay a fine equivalent to 1,100 francs and an additional 600 francs in compensation to each player. (nib)
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