ZDF Sport Director Yorck Polus has announced the addition of Thorsten Kinhöfer to their team as a new referee expert, emphasizing the audience's demand for clear explanations of refereeing decisions during football broadcasts. Kinhöfer is poised to provide valuable insights and expert commentary aimed at enhancing the viewing experience.
This Saturday, ZDF presenter Jochen Breyer will welcome Kinhöfer to the "aktuellen sportstudio". He will be joined by Jackson Irvine, the Australian-Scottish football professional currently with FC St. Pauli. Kinhöfer's debut is scheduled for Tuesday, February 25, 2025, during the "sportstudio live" segment on ZDF. The program will begin with the UEFA Women's Nations League match between Austria and Germany, kicking off at 18:15. Following this, attention will turn to the third DFB-Pokal quarter-final at 20:15, where DSC Arminia Bielefeld will host Bundesliga team SV Werder Bremen. Jochen Breyer will guide the evening's football action, with former professional Christoph Kramer acting as ZDF's football expert and Kinhöfer taking on the role of referee expert. Martin Schneider will provide match commentary, alongside co-commentator and ex-professional Hanno Balitsch.
Aged 56, Kinhöfer embarked on his refereeing career at just 18 years old, starting off as an active football player. He officiated his first match in the Second Bundesliga during 1997 and served as a Bundesliga referee from the 2001/2002 season to the end of the 2014/2015 season. His international experience includes being a FIFA referee from 2006 to 2013, during which Kinhöfer presided over 352 matches across both the First and Second Bundesliga, as well as 71 international games. Notably, he officiated the DFB-Pokal final held at Berlin's Olympiastadion in 2010.
Kinhöfer's appointment follows his predecessor, Manuel Gräfe, who served as ZDF's referee expert from 2021 until 2024.
Polus highlighted the significance of Kinhöfer's role, stating, "Unser Publikum erwartet, dass wir die Entscheidungen der Schiedsrichter bei unseren Fußball-Übertragungen nachvollziehbar erklären. Da trifft es sich bestens, dass wir mit Thorsten Kinhöfer nun einen neuen Experten im Team haben, der unsere Kommentatoren und Moderatoren mit fachlichen Hinweisen und erfahrungsreichen Erläuterungen unterstützen kann." This translates to, "Our audience expects us to transparently explain refereeing decisions during our football broadcasts. It’s fortunate we have Thorsten Kinhöfer as our new expert who can support our commentators and moderators with his professional insights and experienced explanations.”
Kinhöfer's extensive experience and detailed knowledge of the game promise to bring new depth to ZDF's football coverage, allowing fans to gain clearer insights and understand the often-complex decisions made by referees during matches. Kinhöfer is not just stepping onto the screen; he is stepping up to bridge the gap between fans and refereeing intricacies.
Fans will get to witness Kinhöfer's major television debut soon, as he will be analyzing the decisions made during the live telecast of the DFB-Pokal match between Arminia Bielefeld and Werder Bremen. It's expected his insights will greatly enrich viewers' experiences, potentially changing the way refereeing is perceived within the sport.