Familiar face takes over SRF presenter Salzgeber hands over Nati matches
After more than ten years, Rainer Maria Salzgeber has decided to step down from presenting the Swiss national team's matches after the Nations League campaign on SRF. Paddy Kälin will take over.
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- Rainer Maria Salzgeber will no longer present national team matches.
- After more than ten years, Salzgeber is stepping down as SRF presenter of the national team.
- Paddy Kälin will take over.
The qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico marks the start of a new cycle for the Swiss national football team next year. This will also change things at SRF.
After more than ten years, Rainer Maria Salzgeber will no longer be accompanying the team on location for SRF, as SRF announced. After more than ten years, the 55-year-old from Valais has decided to hand over the moderation of the broadcasts surrounding the national team's matches after the Nations League campaign.
Salzgeber first covered a major football tournament for SRF in 1996 at the European Championships in England. He has been presenting live broadcasts at finals since the 2000 European Championship.
For the past ten years, the 55-year-old has hosted the formats surrounding the Swiss national team's matches - usually on location at the stadium or training camp, from 2018 together with national team expert Benjamin Huggel.
Paddy Kälin takes over
During this time, he accompanied a golden generation of Swiss footballers around Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Yann Sommer, who recently reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships twice - and became the face of the national team matches in many Swiss-German households.
Salzgeber will remain anchor of the Champions League broadcasts at SRF and will continue to present the "Sportpanorama" and the "Sports Awards".
Paddy Kälin has been with SRF since 2000, where he first made his mark as a sports editor. In 2004, he covered his first football finals, the European Championships in Portugal. Since then, he has been involved in all European and World Cups, from 2016 as presenter of the live studio broadcasts surrounding the matches.
At UEFA EURO 2024, the 48-year-old hosted a national team match for the first time when he temporarily took over for Rainer Maria Salzgeber in Stuttgart and Düsseldorf.
"Rainer Maria Salzgeber accompanied the Swiss national team's matches with charm and humor, but also with a precise and critical eye and a great deal of expertise in a highly professional manner. He deserves great praise and thanks for this. Paddy Kälin is a worthy successor who can turn live moments - such as the recent European Athletics Championships in Rome or the Olympic Games in Paris - into something special," says Susan Schwaller, Editor-in-Chief of SRF Sport.
