Arne Friedrich has resigned from his position as sports director at Bundesliga soccer club Hertha BSC ahead of schedule. The contract of the 42-year-old, who wanted to leave the club at the end of the season, was terminated, as the Berliners announced on Monday.
“In an open discussion, we have now jointly determined that, with a view to planning for the coming season, it makes more sense to end the cooperation now,” said Managing Director Sport Fredi Bobic.
The former captain of the Berliners, who was hired by Jürgen Klinsmann as performance manager in 2019 and took over the position of sports director after the separation from manager Michael Preetz at the beginning of last year, saw his functions curtailed.
Friedrich: “For various reasons, however, I have had the feeling over the past few months that I no longer have enough influence on important sporting decisions to do justice to my duties as sporting director. Therefore, we decided together to end the cooperation prematurely.”
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A year ago, Friedrich, together with the then coach Pal Dardai, had committed the team to staying up in the league. At the beginning of the year, the former national defender announced that his contract, which was due to expire in the summer, would not be extended.