Schumacher's absence at awards ceremony causes stir

BERLIN -- Formula One champion Michael Schumacher drew sharp criticism by some German athletes on Wednesday after he skipped this past weekend's German sports awards ceremony.

Schumacher, who was chosen the male sportsman of the year for the second time, sent a video to the nationally broadcast program on Sunday instead of appearing in person.

"He disrespects all of us," said Birgit Fischer, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist in canoeing who won the women's award.

Schumacher's use of the video as a stand-in, not a common practice in Germany, drew sharp criticism from former Germany national soccer team captain Lothar Matthaeus, ex-boxing world champion Sven Ottke and even a state governor.

"I understand Birgit Fischer's anger," Matthaeus said. "These awards need the presence of the winner. Schumacher owes sport a big thanks. The fans want to see him live, not on video."

The Bild newspaper, Germany's biggest, devoted a long story to Schumacher's absence at the event, including a picture of the Ferrari driver in dark shades sipping on a drink that made him look aloof.

"Is 'Schumi' really arrogant or are the others just jealous?" was Bild's giant headline.

Bild pointed out that with earnings of $87 million annually, Schumacher is ranked No. 2 by Forbes magazine among the highest-paid athletes worldwide, behind Tiger Woods. No other German athlete earns anything similar.

"This has nothing to do with jealousy. It just shows a lack of respect to the others," said Ottke, who retired last year as the unbeaten WBA and IBF super middleweight champion.

"I think it is too bad -- something like that distances him from people," said Kurt Beck, governor of Rhineland Palatinate.

The Bild story also showed Schumacher had his defenders, including his manager, Willi Weber.

Weber said the Ferrari driver had very few days open in his busy schedule to spend with his family. In December, his vacation month, Schumacher spent eight days at events involving the car company's sponsors or charity.

"Anybody that knows Michael, knows this has nothing to do with arrogance," Weber said.