Take it or leave it at Türkgücü
René Vollath has been guarding the goal at the regional league club SpVgg Unterhaching since July. In a “kicker” interview, the 32-year-old looked back on the past five years in the service of KFC Uerdingen and Türkgücü Munich – and raises allegations with regard to the club practices under the direction of investors Mikhail Ponomarev and Hasan Kivran at the time.
“I’ve been a single investor club for five years, at some point you’re damaged,” said Vollath, who switched from Karlsruher SC to the then ambitious regional league team in Uerdingen in 2017. “When I came to the regional league times, Mr. Ponomarev, managing director Nikolas Weinhart and trainer Michael Wiesinger presented the idea in a great way. Everyone involved, players and coaches, had the feeling that we could help build something that would last. In the end, unfortunately, it got to us all,” reported the goalkeeper.
The first doubts arose among the players with the cocky exchange of squads after promotion to the 3rd division. At that time, today’s top division team brought well-known professionals such as world champion Kevin Großkreutz, Stefan Aigner and Assani Lukimya to the Grotenburg (overview). “As long as the money comes, you worry less, especially since it would be stupid for an investor to drop a project like this shortly before the profitable second division,” says Vollath about the thoughts that drove him and many of his colleagues at that time . In August 2020, after 74 competitive games in the KFC jersey to date, the club also dropped Vollath. “I had a bad offer, the coach and the club wanted to improve it, my wife and I wanted to stay. Then the offer was not only withdrawn, the club said goodbye to me directly on Instagram without discussing it with me. It was the same with Alex Bittroff,” reported the goalkeeper, who was once trained at 1. FC Nürnberg.
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The club’s approach was “always the same”: “All the players who were wanted got their salary. All others were no longer paid. It always went until just before the bankruptcy filing, and that was exactly when everything was paid, including all fees. I think that was the case with 15 or 16 players.” Vollath also reported to the “kicker” about a “very extreme case: a player who hadn’t earned that much before and was dependent on the money. He also had a sick child for whom the insurance company did not cover all treatment costs for specialists. Those responsible accepted this with approval. Luckily he didn’t agree to a comparison.”
Bierhoff, Meijer & Co.: These players were once on the ball for Uerdingen
Investor Ponomarev “made big promises”, at some point the money stopped coming. Vollath is still running a procedure with the insolvency administrator, “who is reclaiming my last salary, which was only paid six months after I left.” After KFC, Vollath moved to Türkgücü Munich, which under similar circumstances became the second Munich football force wanted to advance. “I signed a take it or leave it because it was late in the transfer window after leaving KFC.”
“Except for two or three outliers”, the salary structure was correct in the first year. However, the situation in the Munich suburban club quickly reminded the keeper of that at KFC: “The club became restless, Alex Schmidt was released in 5th place, it got wild, then you thought: Now we’re going to attack. In the summer of 2021, the salary structure was thrown overboard. The newcomers were fine, but we never became a team.” Türkgücü went bankrupt last season. When asked whether one could have foreseen this development, especially with Vollath’s experience as a professional, he said: “Everyone knows that this is not economical, but we football professionals are in a special situation: Due to the limited working hours, we have to make financial savings get the maximum out. When suddenly there is twice as much, everyone thinks twice.”
Special rights for transfers in the event of insolvency? Vollath: “Chances are good”
The sporting end of Türkgücü in spring 2022 was tantamount to a three-month professional ban, according to Vollath: “If one of us had the staying power to sue for special rights, in such a case to change outside the transfer window, the chances would be good.” Looking at the possible settlement of outstanding amounts from the time at the two previous stations, he was “pessimistic-realistic, maybe one or two percent of the outstanding amount will come. Uerdingen and Türkgücü should not be repeated, I hope for the economic stability task force. I used to think the 3rd league was a great stepping stone. Today I say: This league is too poorly funded to function sustainably.”
Vollath signed a contract in Unterhaching in the summer until 2025. He sees “not only security but also a long-term perspective with my tasks off the field” with the regional league team. While he worked his way “from contract to contract” as a professional in the third division, today, in addition to his own professional activity, he looks after “ambitious amateur athletes and professionals in matters of regeneration management, nutrition and mindset”, studies business psychology and, with the support of his club, is working on his coaching license. When it comes to the future, Vollath is “open to everything, also because I’m aware that it could all be over tomorrow.”
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