RB Leipzig’s sports director Max Eberl will not be a guest in ZDF’s “Sportstudio” on Saturday evening as planned. The broadcaster refrained from showing the 49-year-old because, at Eberl’s request, “certain topics (“Causa Gladbach”) should be largely excluded. This was announced by ZDF on Thursday. The “Sportstudio” editors did not want to comply with this request. Instead, Marius Bülter from FC Schalke 04 will be a guest on Saturday.
According to RB Leipzig, Eberl canceled the appearance. “After an early commitment, I will now refrain from my visit to the ZDF sports studio next Saturday,” said Eberl at the request of the DPA news agency. He faced the issues off the pitch about the game against Gladbach, although he wanted to end it. “Rather, it was partly interpreted as if I wanted to actively heat up the discussions. That was not my intention, despite all the emotion,” said Eberl.
According to DPA information, there was an agreement well before the Gladbach game that the interview in the sports studio should be forward-looking. After the events of the weekend, when Eberl was again the victim of insulting banners, ZDF wanted to go deeper into Eberl and his departure from Gladbach. “I fully understand that when I put myself in their perspective,” said Eberl. From his point of view, however, “everything has been said several times” on this topic.
Eberl had refrained from appearing in the media in the week before the game against his ex-club Mönchengladbach last Saturday. On the day of the match and the day after the match, however, the manager talked extensively about his ex-club and the incomprehension of some fans about his new job in Leipzig in the “double pass” of the TV channel Sport1.
