Martin Hinteregger’s career is over. After the quarrels about his Hinti Cup in the past few weeks, the Austrian asked Eintracht to suspend his contract. The Hessians have complied with the wishes of the 29-year-old.
Martin Hinteregger announced the end of his career on Thursday. As announced by Eintracht, the Austrian contacted the club and asked for his contract to be cancelled. The club complied with the central defender’s request.
“Last autumn I had my first thoughts of retiring after the season. I was in a difficult phase in terms of sport: My performance was fluctuating. The victories didn’t feel so good anymore, but every defeat hurt twice as much,” said Hinteregger. In the spring he found motivation to end the season successfully in sport. “The reason I enjoyed the Europa League win so much was that I knew it would be my last big victory celebration with the fantastic fans in this city.”
Trouble about the Hinti Cup
Recently, the former fan favorite caused some negative headlines. He worked together with Heinrich Sickl at the Hinti Cup, a football tournament he organized in his Austrian home town of Sirnitz. The former FPÖ politician is considered a supporter of the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement. After an Austrian journalist’s article about the business relationship and violent protests Hinteregger ended the collaboration.
“In the past few weeks, my ‘Hinti-Cup’, which I held with heart and soul and with a clear conscience, a number of topics have arisen, the scope of which only became clear to me afterwards. Emotional, perhaps thoughtless words from me have caused irritation and I would like to apologize for that,” said Hinteregger.
“Clear and credible” distanced
“Martin’s decision came as a surprise to us, but he explained his perspective and reasons to us in an impressive and convincing manner,” said Eintracht sports director Markus Krösche. “Therefore, there was no question for us to comply with this sportingly painful but humanly understandable wish.”
Hinteregger distanced himself “clearly and credibly” from right-wing ideas and is therefore remembered by Eintracht as a deserved player. “We hope that he will find his way after his active career and we wish him all the best for the future,” said Krösche.
Hinteregger wants to “realign life”
Next, Hinteregger would like to “gain some distance” in order to “realign my life”. The Carinthian had always emphasized that after his active career he would like to work as a “mountain doctor” in rescue. He also took helicopter flying lessons during his time at Eintracht.
