Saturday evening, at 6:30 p.m. sharp, was a very special moment for Alexander Bommes. For the first time since November, the "Sportschau" presenter went live again after his illness break.

"Good evening, welcome to football, to certainly exciting and intense football today," the 47-year-old greeted the ARD viewers and led directly to the first game in the "Sportschau" (match reports from the 25th Bundesliga matchday read here). Bommes did not comment on his long absence from the studio at the beginning of the show - and remained true to his line.

Almost nothing has been known about the exact reason for his long break in recent months. Bommes was last on duty for ARD on November 13th, after which he had to cancel both the moderation of the football world championship in Qatar and the handball world championship in Poland and Sweden because of "a series of infections", as it was called (the star reported).

In January, Bommes announced via ARD that he still had "some health restrictions" and wanted to "complete further recovery" before returning to the screen. Speculations in tabloid media about details of the disease have always gone uncommented.

Now, however, the former handball professional apparently feels fit again and presented the first "sports show" after his break. In addition to the Bundesliga classic, Bommes has also been moderating the NDR success quiz show "Gesucht - Gejagt" for eleven years, the recorded episodes of which also ran on the first and third programs during Bommes' break.

Also read: "Shitstorm after 'stupid questions' – and Alexander Bommes gets the receipt right away"

Sources: ARD media library, ARD (1), ARD (2), DPA news agency