Ulli Potofski is dead: colleagues, broadcasters and clubs mourn

The sports and television world mourns the loss of the popular football commentator Ulrich “Ulli” Potofski, who died on Sunday at the age of 73 after serious illness. As one of the first prominent companions of the sports journalist, “Let’s Dance” Juror Joachim Llambi (61) publicly spoke on Wednesday.

“Experience yourself, to hear you, laugh with you and spend so many wonderful hours with you, I will never forget” ,. Potofski, who took part in the RTL dance show in 2016, was “one of my absolute favorite candidates”, Llambi said to a black and white photo from the show. “Not because you shone dancing, that may not be your greatest strength. But your humor, your charm, your warmth, that was unique. Your appearance was heart. Locality. Size.”

Finally, he wrote: “You will be missing, Ulli. So much.” But even a joke the strict dance juror cannot help but: “Please do me a favor up there: Don’t teach you to dance, but show you how wonderful how loving, how extraordinary a person can be.”

Among other things, ex-jungle campers Julian FM Stoeckel spoke out in the comment column: “The tears come to me … What great words,” he wrote.

Potofski’s home broadcaster Sky, in whom he has accompanied countless games from the Bundesliga, the DFB Cup and the second division since 2006, also gave him tribute emotionally. “With great dismay, we learned about the death of our long -time colleague (…), who died on Sunday at the age of 73 after a short, serious illness”.

With Ulli Potofski you lose “not only an extraordinary journalist, but also a colleague who has enriched the sports reporting over decades with creativity, humor and great personal commitment”.

There are also first reactions to Potofski’s death from the Bundesliga. “With a heart and mind for football: We mourn the died reporter legend Ulli Potofski on Sunday. You were always one of the loved ones, we won’t forget you” ,.

“His” club, FC Schalke 04, dedicates the native Gelsenkirchen to a touching obituary. : “A real Schalke boy, from the famous district of Gelsenkirchen, won early for the S04 from the father.” The proximity to the club was like a blue thread through Potofski’s life and career.

Schalke is reminiscent of his journalistic beginnings at the WDR, his formative role in “kick -off” on RTL and his stations at Sport1 and Sky and emphasizes his role as the voice of the fans. The association wants to “always keep an honorable memory,” it says.