Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The involvement of three ex-professionals at VfB Stuttgart and the following discussions about the future of sports director Sven Mislintat have led to an unusual action: A fan of the Bundesliga soccer club has started an online petition with the goal that the club will extend Mislintat’s contract beyond June 30, 2023. By Wednesday afternoon, the initiator had already collected around 5,800 signatures from “supporters” on the website.
The commitments of the two former world champions Sami Khedira and Philipp Lahm as consultants and the return of ex-captain Christian Gentner as head of the licensed players department had led to heated discussions in the fan scene. It was also about the extent to which Mislintat was involved in these decisions and whether he would work for VfB beyond the season. The CEO Alexander Wehrle had declared that talks with Mislintat about a contract extension would now begin.
The online petition now says: “In the press conference on September 12th, 2022 with the presentation of Sami Khedira, Philipp Lahm and Christian Gentner, the impression was created that important strategic decisions affecting the sporting area were made without involving those directly responsible in the sporting field (in particular Sven Mislintat) were met.”
The initiator also writes that the “one-sided and non-transparent decision-making is unfortunately in clear contradiction to the statement that all those responsible in the club pull together and that teamwork is an important prerequisite for the club’s success”. The petition therefore calls for “an immediate start of talks to extend Sven Mislintat’s contract, which appropriately take his ideas into account”.
