Mönchengladbach U23 Manager Heiko Vogel Ordered to Train Women's Team as Punishment

The West German Football Association (WDFV) has come under fire for its verdict ordering Borussia Mönchengladbach II manager Heiko Vogel to train the Mönchengladbach women's team as a punishment for unsportsmanlike conduct directed toward a referee, according to ESPN. 

The WDFV decision stems from an incident between Vogel, two assistant coaches and referee Marcel Benkhoff during the U23 side's win over Bergisch Gladbach in January. The punishment also includes a two-match dugout ban and a fine along with the mandate to train the women's team for six sessions. 

It has not been a good week for Borussia Mönchengladbach after the club's Champions League exit on a 4–0 aggregate to Manchester City on Wednesday. Vogel, a former Basel and Bayern Munich II manager, has been linked with the senior team job as Gladbach manager Marco Rose will join Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season. 

Frauen im Fussball (Women in football) member and journalist Nicole Selmer told ESPN that the decision to associate coaching a women's team with a punishment sends "a fatal message." 

"It shows that at whatever level women and girls play football they are not taken as serious as men and boys," Selmer said.

"This punishment for the Gladbach coach puts coaching a women's team on a level with social work. But it's not like that. Women's football is a sport and those who participate in it are as professional as their male counterparts."

The WDFV said that the order is still under review as Vogel will return to coach the fourth-tier side this weekend after serving his two-match dugout ban.