German women’s footballer says she ‘respects’ Playboy but prefers ‘to play on the field’ after turning down a naked cover shoot in their magazine

German international star Giulia Gwinn has spoken out after turning down an offer to appear in a nude cover shoot for Playboy magazine ahead of the Women’s World Cup.

The Bayern Munich player was reportedly approached by the men’s magazine at the beginning of this year.

The 24-year-old right back is said to have received a ‘very tempting offer from Playboy, but politely declined the offer.

Instead, she was trying to get fit ahead of the World Cup – a tournament she will sadly miss due to injury.

Gwinn told reporters, according to AS Sports: ‘I respect Playboy as a journalistic product, but then I prefer to present myself as a football player on the field.

The 24-year-old right back is said to have received a ‘very tempting proposal’ from Playboy

The Bayern Munich player decided to focus on recovering from injury, but will sadly miss the World Cup after being out with a cruciate ligament injury since October.

“In general, I think and hope that we will have much more exciting and important things to discuss, especially now with the World Cup.”

German newspaper BILD claimed that Playboy hoped to include one of the squad’s top players in the shoot as they approached Gwinn.

“Giulia Gwinn is not only an outstanding athlete, but also a beautiful young woman,” said Playboy Germany boss Florian Boitin.

“So a personality like her is of course interesting for Playboy.”

Gwinn hoped to recover from a cruciate ligament injury she sustained in October to be ready in time for the World Cup.

She was expected to be one of Germany’s key players after being named the best young player at the 2019 World Cup before being named in the team of the tournament at Euro 2022.

However, Gwinn missed out on a place in the German squad after failing to recover sufficiently from the injury.

Gwinn wrote to her 534,000 Instagram followers after her exclusion: “You can be sad and disappointed for a few days, but then you can certainly be proud of the otherwise successfully completed rehabilitation.

Playboy claimed that Gwinn’s personality made her “naturally interesting” to the magazine

Named the young player of the 2019 World Cup, Gwinn was also part of the team of the tournament at Euro 2022 – so her absence is a big miss for Germany this summer

‘The personal conversation with the national coach in the run-up to the nomination was always at eye level and was characterized by great mutual respect.’

Five members of Germany’s U20 team posed in a Playboy cover shoot ahead of the 2011 World Cup

Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg admitted that she had also received the same offer from Playboy in 1989.

The 55-year-old said she did not want women’s football to be affected by its association with Playboy.

Voss-Tecklenburg also told Bild she would allow her players to decide for themselves whether to agree to a photo shoot.

She said, “I think Playboy has super aesthetic photos. I would leave it to each player to decide, but always tell her what the pros and cons might be.

‘Can you bear the consequences? Do they bring you anything? If it’s right, there’s nothing wrong with it.’

Concerns have also been raised over a possible ‘Playboy curse’, after five members of the German Under-20 national team posed in a cover shoot ahead of the 2011 World Cup.

The five players Annika Doppler, Kristina Gessat, Ivana Rudelic, Julia Simic and Selina Wagner were believed to have struggled to break through after the shoot.

The German National Federation was reportedly angry over the shoot, while Simic’s move to Manchester City reportedly collapsed as a result of the photos.