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Stuttgart (AP) - CEO Thomas Hitzlsperger withdraws his candidacy for the office of president at VfB Stuttgart.
The former national player announced this in a video message published on his website on Sunday evening.
"I do this out of responsibility towards our association and my employees," explained the 38-year-old.
«We need rest again in the club.
With my decision, I now want to do my part. "
When the professional department was outsourced in 2017, the members of the Bundesliga soccer team were promised that their interests in relation to the new AG would be protected.
Hitzlsperger said that his application “did not take this into account sufficiently”.
"I'm sorry."
He also wants to advance the investigation of the data affair that has been weighing heavily on the Swabians for several months.
The club is said to have repeatedly passed member data on to third parties in the past.
He wanted to create structures and processes "that prevent such occurrences in the future," said Hitzlsperger.
He offers the newly elected president "a good cooperation".
Shortly before the turn of the year, Hitzlsperger applied for the next VfB presidential election and criticized the current incumbent Claus Vogt in the harshest possible terms.
Another applicant besides Vogt is the businessman Volker Zeh from the Rems Valley.
The association's advisory board, which is responsible for the selection, recently announced that it would also look for other potential candidates.
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The power struggle in the management floor had noticeably thrown the association off balance and massively damaged its public image.
Vogt announced last week that the general meeting planned for March 18, at which the elections are also pending, would be postponed to September.
His colleagues on the executive committee then stood in the way of the 51-year-old.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210131-99-246286 / 2
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