Claudia Neumann from public broadcaster ZDF is the first German woman commentator of men’s World Cup matches — and her gender has made her a target of major abuse on social networks in a still male-orientated sport. 
The BBC’s Vicki Sparks also had to deal with online abuse after her television debut at the tournament in Russia. Sexism also showed early on when a Russian fan kissed and groped a female reporter of Germany’s Deutsche Welle during a live broadcast at the tournament opener on June 14. 
The video went viral and the man eventually issued a public apology. Other reporters including a woman from Brazil have had similar experiences — and women’s rights campaigners are also complaining that the official television feed picks out women from the match crowd for their looks only. 
But there is a growing number of female commentators and reporters at this tournament. Twice Olympic gold medallist Aly Wagner of Fox Sports is the first American woman to call a men’s World Cup match. 
Norway’s former international player Lise Klaveness has also turned to broadcasting while Australian presenter Lucy Zelic is the sister of former Borussia Dortmund player Ned Zelic. 
Women have worked as radio and field reporters for many years in German football but Neumann is the first television match commentator at men’s games, making her debut at Euro 2016. 
In Russia, she has been the television voice for four games so far, including Argentina v Iceland and Portugal v Iran. 
ZDF felt obliged to delete various hate comments on its Facebook and Twitter pages, and its sports chief Thomas Fuhrmann quickly came to her defence. 
“It appears to be about something fundamental: A women commentates a match of the men’s World Cup. Some go completely berserk on the internet, that is way below the belt,” he said. 
“We don’t accept hate, malice and insults. The colleague has great knowledge and is doing a good job at the World Cup.” 
Neumann herself has declined to comment but even the German Olympic Sports Confederation got involved, calling for a “red card for hostilities” and more women reporters. Germany’s other public broadcaster, ARD, is also looking for a female match reporter but its sports coordinator Axel Balkausky acknowledged that “a woman as commentator must be very self-confident to deal with this situation.” Balkausky also said that not many women are applying and that the internet trolling and abuse of Neumann and the women in other countries could be acting as a deterrent. 
That included Sparks, a long-time BBC reporter who made her live TV debut last week for the Portugal v Morocco game in Moscow. “History maker,” tweeted Women in Football, an organisation which promotes female representation in the sport. 
Or, as BBC sports reporter Dan Walker tweeted in the direction of the trolls: “Women love football. Women play football. Women can analyse football. You can still love, play & analyse football. It doesn’t mean — as a bloke — you have to be threatened by their knowledge, presence or expertise. Get over it. We can all enjoy the World Cup.”