Union Berlin blast 'embarrassing' sexist abuse of new coach Marie-Louise Eta

Union Berlin's director of football Horst Heldt has described sexist abuse towards new head coach Marie-Louise Eta as "simply embarrassing."

Eta, 34, became the first woman to take charge of a men's team in any of Europe's top five leagues when she was named head coach of the Bundesliga club until the end of the season following Steffen Baumgart's sacking last week.

Since her appointment, Eta has been the subject of sexist abuse and comments on social media.

Heldt released a statement saying Union stood by their decision.

He said: "I've noticed the sexist comments but I refuse to give these voices a platform.

"For me, this is solely about leadership quality -- and we are fully convinced that Loui is up to the task. I find it absurd that we still have to justify this in 2026.

"We're talking about a highly competent leader here.

"We at Union stand united behind this decision and will do everything in our power to ensure that this is no longer a topic of discussion in the future. All of this is simply embarrassing."

Eta has taken interim charge of the men's team until the end of the campaign and will then start her role as head coach of Union's women's team in the summer.

The club also called out trolls in a series of posts on their X account.

They posted a picture of Eta taking training for the first time on Tuesday with the caption: "Back to work, everyone. All eyes on Saturday."

On Monday, England boss Sarina Wiegman described Eta as a "trailblazer," adding: "I think this was a matter of time anyway.

"First of all, congratulations to her, and Berlin. It's exciting. It shows that, again, football is moving up. There's women in society everywhere, and the next step is that it's also in football."

Union Berlin are currently 11th in the Bundesliga, with Eta's first game in charge at home to Wolfsburg on Saturday.