A man has been given a seven-month suspended prison sentence and fined €1,200 (£1,046) after being found guilty of taking secret videos and photographs from the changing room, gym and showers of the Altach women’s football team. He was also told to pay the victims €625 each in compensation.
The sentence was handed out in the regional court in Feldkirch, Austria, with the judge saying that it made a huge difference “if one looks at pictures or actually creates them oneself”. The defendant accepted the sentence but the prosecutor may appeal.
Eleni Rittmann, who now plays for Evian in France but previously represented Altach, was outraged at the sentence. “This leaves me speechless,” she said in an Instagram post. “The perpetrator was not only a top-level referee in Switzerland but also an official at Altach. And that is where he filmed players, including minors. I then ask myself, is this an appropriate punishment?
“I also ask myself, does such a punishment act as a deterrent for others? We felt secure in our dressing room and this hurt our privacy so badly that some of us do not feel safe in public showers even now. For me this is not a strong enough signal for something that is not tolerated in our society. The verdict is not final as the prosecutor has requested additional time to consider an appeal.”
The man had worked at the club, who play in the top division in Austria, between 2020 and 2025. About 30 players were identified on the recordings and pictures, according to the prosecutor. During the trial, a statement from the victims was read out, saying: “We are young women, partly still young girls. What has happened has pulled the rug from under our feet. For years he told us that the dressing room was our home but this home was then destroyed by someone who we thought was part of this family.”
The case has had a big impact in Austria with the minister of sport, Michaela Schmidt, labelling the alleged crimes “disgusting” in October when the local newspaper Vorarlberger Nachrichten first reported them. “If female athletes are not even safe in their own dressing rooms because of an official then they have nothing to stand on,” she said.
The defence lawyer said it had been established that the photos and videos had not been transferred to a third party and they now had been seized and destroyed. At the end of the trial the man turned to the victims in the court room and said: “I agree with the statements made by my lawyer, but I would still like to express my sympathy to all those affected and apologise for my actions.”
The club have said they have done their best to support the players and in early February, Manuel Willam, an assistant to the board at Altach, said the club were conducting an internal process to develop additional protective and preventive measures and are working with the Austrian FA and the Austrian Sports Federation on increased security measures in sport. He said it would be presented in March.
