Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Tuesday, June 20, 2023
BERLIN – The German Football Federation (DFB) on Monday announced tampon brand o.b. as new sponsoring partner as it plans to draw more attention to the topic of menstruation in women’s competition sport and work to free it from taboos.
The partnership will focus on the women’s national team, with the players playing a central role in promoting open conversations about menstruation and breaking down prejudices and taboos, a DFB statement said.
“The menstrual cycle is of course a special topic in competitive sport that still needs to be further researched, and we also deal with it in the national team. Unfortunately, an open approach to the topic is still often inhibited. We, therefore, hope that this partnership will also contribute to end taboos surrounding the female period,” Germany women’s team coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said.
In recent years, female athletes, such as tennis player Alicia Barnett from Britain and Zheng Qinwen from China, have spoken publicly about their periods and how they affected their performance.
Severe abdominal pain, water retention or dizziness are among symptoms the can be experienced during the menstrual cycle, when hormone levels also change. Therefore, the idea of cycle-based training is increasingly coming into focus.
At Champions League runners-up VfL Wolfsburg, the club’s medical department has been working for some time with an app in which the female players enter data about their cycle. This can be used to draw important conclusions about their performance.
