‘Creepy’ Dunedin football fans’ sign to Alisha Lehmann defended

Switzerland's Alisha Lehmann celebrates after the Women's World Cup Group A soccer match between New Zealand and Switzerland in Dunedin, on July 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Cornaga)

A pair of Dunedin football fans labelled “creepy” and “perverted” by international media have defended their cheeky sign aimed at Swiss superstar Alisha Lehmann.

Jack Von Engelbrechten and his friend Rowan Leask had two goals when attending the Football Ferns versus Switzerland game in Dunedin on Sunday — get on TV and get the striker’s attention.

The two prepared a sign for the game which read “Alisha Lehmann sign my belly so I can be seen on telley[sic]”.

Jack Von Engelbrechten and Rowan Leask's sign appeared during a broadcast of the match from Dunedin. Screengrab / BBC via Otago Daily Times

“We were just like, ‘yo this rhymes, let’s get it up there’,” Von Engelbrechten said.

“We really didn’t think much of it.”

But when images of the sign were beamed around the world, they made the wrong kind of headlines.

Media outlets including British tabloids The Sun and The Mirror labelled it “creepy” and quoted a viewer calling the pair “weird perverts”.

The Mirror quoted football fans calling the sign 'creepy' and 'perverted'. Screengrab / mirror.co.uk

Von Engelbrechten said the pair meant no offence.

They had even jumped through the correct official hoops by submitting a photo of the sign to Fifa for approval before the game.

“If Fifa thought it was appropriate, then we were like, ‘yeah OK, should be fine then’.”

Dunedin student Jack Von Engelbrechten is adamant his lighthearted sign displayed at the Fifa Women’s World Cup was not creepy. Photo / Gerard O'Brien

The pair admitted being starstruck by Lehmann, who has 14 million Instagram followers.

“She’s an Instagram sensation and we just wanted to either get a photo or a signature.”

He recalled the moment his friend discovered the first disparaging news article online.

“Rowan just came running down in the morning and was like, ‘yo! We’re famous, we’re famous!’

“He was like, ‘it’s not for good reasons’.”

He thought the media response was “a bit of an overreaction.

“The sign might have been inappropriate, but I don’t think ‘pervert’ and ‘creepy’ is quite necessary.”