Football, Bundesliga: Oliver Mintzlaff will remain CEO of the Bundesliga soccer club RB Leipzig until at least 2026. As the association announced on Thursday, the contract, which initially ran until 2024, was extended prematurely by two years. The 45-year-old has been RB’s managing director since 2016 and chairman of the board since 2014.
“At RB Leipzig we are taking a path that is characterized on and off the field by a clear philosophy, permanent development and many successes. I would like to continue shaping this path in the years to come and I am looking forward to the many exciting, but also tackling challenging tasks with this great team, “said Mintzlaff in a club release. Under his direction, RB first rose to the 2nd Bundesliga, then in 2016 to the first division. Since then, the team has qualified four times for the Champions League and once for the Europa League. In the 2019/2020 season, RB reached the Champions League semi-finals and twice in the DFB Cup final.
Handball, national team: Captain Uwe Gensheimer has announced his resignation from the national handball team after the disappointing Olympic tournament. In addition, national coach Alfred Gislason will have to do without other veterans in the future, as the German Handball Federation (DHB) announced on Thursday. In addition to Gensheimer, backcourt player Steffen Weinhold (THW Kiel) is no longer available, defense chief Hendrik Pekeler (THW Kiel) wants to take a longer break from the national team and leaves future missions for the DHB selection open. Goalkeeper oldie Johannes Bitter (HSV Hamburg) only wants to step in in an emergency after missing the Olympic medal in Japan.
“I look back with pride and gratitude on a long time at the German Handball Federation and I will never forget the experiences that came with it,” said Gensheimer. DHB President Andreas Michelmann thanked all players. “All four are faces of our sport, have excited the audience and motivated many children,” he said.
The national team is facing a personnel change. The 34-year-old from Gensheim last played only a minor role at the tournament in Tokyo, but before that he was one of the pillars of the team. After his international debut in November 2005, he celebrated his greatest success in the DHB jersey in 2016 when he won bronze with the team at the Olympics in Rio. For Gislason, however, the loss of world-class defender Pekeler (30) and backcourt specialist Weinhold (35) is more serious in terms of sport, and Bitter, who is now 38, is still one of the best German goalkeepers.
Football, Bundesliga: Coach Christian Streich from the Bundesliga soccer club SC Freiburg has appealed to people to get vaccinated against Corona. “There are always different opinions about the need for vaccination protection,” said the 56-year-old: “I hope that the people who have not yet been vaccinated to this day will come to the realization that it is important to protect yourself and others. ” He sees vaccination as a “solidarity measure”, he continued: “Unfortunately, it has not yet become clear to many what an achievement it is. With clear common sense and the responsibility that one has, there can only be one decision. ” The Bundesliga clubs themselves do not communicate any figures about how many of their players have been vaccinated.
Football, Bundesliga: FSV Mainz 05 has a serious corona problem before the start of the season. A total of eleven professionals from Rheinhessen were sent into domestic isolation by the responsible health department before the kick-off on Sunday (3.30 p.m. / DAZN) against runner-up RB Leipzig. The club confirmed that the training on Wednesday was canceled.
After attacker Karim Onisiwo tested positive last Friday, the virus was detected in two other players on Monday and Tuesday. A follow-up test on Wednesday also gave a positive result for a member of the coaching team. A total of 14 people from the team and staff are in quarantine. “At the moment it can be assumed that the disease is acute, as there have also been infections at home,” said the club announcement: “Two of the sick people have complete vaccination protection.” The club is now in close contact with the health department and the German Football League (DFL).
What the accumulation of cases means for the start next weekend was initially unclear. According to the DFL game rules, a club can only request the cancellation of a match according to the current rules if fewer than 16 players (including amateurs eligible to play) are available. Onisiwo was the first to test positive for the corona virus last Friday, the Rheinhessen had made the case public on Sunday immediately before the first round match in the DFB Cup at SV Elversberg (8: 7 iE). On Friday and also on Saturday, however, all other players were tested negative, so that the game at the regional league team could take place as planned.
Basketball, NBA: Basketball player Isaac Bonga has signed a contract with the Toronto Raptors for the upcoming season of the North American professional league NBA. This was announced by the master of 2019 on Thursday night without giving any further details. Bonga played with the Washington Wizards for the last two years and was on the market as a free agent that summer. It is likely that the German Olympian will first have to recommend himself to the Canadian club’s final 15-man squad in the training camp. Bonga was drafted in the second round of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, after a season he moved on to Washington. The upcoming NBA season begins October 19th.
Tennis, ATP-Tour: Grand Slam record champion Rafael Nadal is absent from the upcoming tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati due to a foot injury and has to fear about participation in the US Open in New York (August 30th to September 12th). The reason is a persistent injury to the left foot. “I really wanted to play here, but now is the time to make a decision, and unfortunately that is the decision I made,” said Nadal on Tuesday after his cancellation for the Masters in Toronto. On Wednesday, the Cincinnati organizers announced that the 35-year-old would not serve there either. The tournament ends on August 22nd, so the time to Flushing Meadows is running out.
Nadal was last eliminated on his comeback after a two-month tournament break in the round of 16 in Washington DC. Even then he complained of foot problems. The 20-time major winner took a break after losing the semi-final to Novak Djokovic (Serbia) at the French Open in Paris and skipped the grass highlight at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Basketball, NBA: Dennis Schröder has announced his move to NBA record champion Boston Celtics. “This is one of the best franchises in NBA history and it will be an honor to put on the green and white and do what I love,” the 27-year-old wrote on an Instagram story. As ESPN reported, Schröder receives a one-year contract for 5.9 million US dollars. An official confirmation from the Celtics was still pending. In the past season, the point guard played for the Los Angeles Lakers. An offer from the Californians to extend the collaboration for four years and $ 84 million is said to have been rejected by Schröder months ago. Instead, LA recently signed US superstar Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards. Schröder, who averaged 15.4 points last season, moved from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Lakers in 2020. The playmaker missed the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where Germany made it to the quarter-finals, for insurance reasons.
Tennis, Davis Cup: After his emotional Olympic victory, Germany’s number one Alexander Zverev initially rejected a start at the Tennis Davis Cup. “But I’m only human and I need a vacation. We play from January to October. I won’t play in this mode in November,” said the 24-year-old of “Sportbild” (Wednesday). But the Hamburger hopes that he will play the Davis Cup in the future. “As soon as the old format is back, with home advantage and a duel at the weekend, I’ll be there.” Zverev had become the first German Olympic champion in men’s singles with a 6: 3, 6: 1 against Russian Karen Khachanov in Tokyo.
Soccer, Europe: Peter Hyballa is no longer the coach of the Danish second division club Esbjerg FB. “I have resigned,” said the 45-year-old on Wednesday German press agency. The reason is slander and hunted down by the tabloid media and the influential players’ union. His family was also affected, said Hyballa. “I can’t accept that.” The coach, who had only taken over from the relegated team for the new season and had trained in Germany, among other things, Alemannia Aachen, said he was foregoing severance pay.
The background is a dispute with parts of the team. Just over a month ago, 21 players had accused Hyballa in an open letter of not having the professional and human qualities to lead the team. His harsh training methods would have resulted in injuries. In addition, they have experienced daily threats of layoffs, ridicule, sexist and degrading remarks as well as regular bullying, which goes far beyond the already wide boundaries of the football world.
Hyballa, who appeared as a ZDF tactics expert during the European Championship, rejects the allegations. “This is character assassination, I defend myself against it,” he said. There were “two or three ringleaders” who raised the mood against him and put other players under pressure. The US investors who bought the club earlier this year are on his side. He also has a friendly relationship with ex-Bundesliga professional Rafael van der Vaart, who was introduced as the new assistant coach on Tuesday at his instigation.
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