Stuttgart (dpa) – CEO Thomas Hitzlsperger will leave VfB Stuttgart at the end of the month.
The supervisory board of the outsourced professional department of the Bundesliga soccer team and the 39-year-old had mutually agreed to prematurely end the contract, which ran until October 31, 2022, the Swabians announced. Hitzlsperger will leave the club on March 31 by “best, mutual agreement”, his successor Alexander Wehrle will start work on March 21. Hitzlsperger’s farewell to VfB and Wehrle’s return to Stuttgart had been certain for a long time, but the exact schedule was not yet known.
“VfB must focus fully on the goal of staying up. A smooth, professional transition to the position of CEO is the best thing for now,” said ex-national player Hitzlsperger on the current situation in Swabia, who are threatened with relegation. “Alexander Wehrle will receive all the support and information he needs from me. But he should then take the lead unaffected and be able to implement his ideas for the new season.” The step of leaving the club was difficult for him, Hitzlsperger continued.
“Thomas Hitzlsperger has had a positive influence on VfB Stuttgart both as a player and as CEO, he changed it and led him through difficult times with courage,” said President and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Claus Vogt. “The sporting and strategic realignment of our VfB with a clear commitment to the ‘Junge Wilden’ and the clear social positioning of the club will be remembered from his tenure, as will the successful management of the Corona consequences or the restructuring of the structures in the AG. ” Hitzlsperger goes “as a friend, the doors are always open for him at VfB.”