Martin Hinteregger: Resignation due to a delicate business relationship

“I can’t say anything positive about him and I won’t say anything negative either.” Martin Hinteregger’s verdict on his coach Manuel Baum at FC Augsburg was not his first verbal blunder. At the end of January 2019, a few days after the TV interview, he switched to league rivals Eintracht Frankfurt – initially only as part of a loan deal.

It was love at first sight, Hinteregger felt comfortable in Frankfurt and immediately became a fixture in the Hesse defense. Six months later, the Austrian was definitely signed. Frankfurt coach Adi Hütter knew his compatriot from the days they shared in Salzburg. The YB master trainer knew how to lead Hinteregger in such a way that he was regularly in top form on the field. The giant from Carinthia was characterized by strong positional play, a good opening of the game and a latent goal threat with headers.

A soccer player with his own song

The Eintracht audience appreciated Hinteregger because of his direct and unconventional manner on and off the pitch. The picture of the fan he drives to the next train station goes viral, as does the cover version of the status quo hit “In The Army Now” by the “Hinti Army Supporters”. Hinteregger becomes a cult on the Main and “Hinti” choirs regularly ring out through the Waldstadion.

Again and again, however, videos of drinking bouts find their way to the public via social networks, they show the football professional with a clear list. His 27th birthday in September 2019 coincided with Austria’s European Championship qualifier against Poland, Hinteregger remained missing until shortly before leaving for Warsaw. On the eve of a game against Bayern Munich, he happily drives down the stairs of a basement bar in a sled.

These are stories that even found their way into his biography entitled «Inside View». It not only spreads pithy sayings and escapades, there is also talk of impending gambling addiction and depressive phases.

Huub Stevens as the main sponsor

Having grown up at 840 meters above sea level in the idyllic village of Sirnitz in Carinthia with a population of 280, Martin Hinteregger began playing football in the village club at the age of seven. Father Franz is a junior manager, sister Christina is active in the women’s team and on the club board. The young footballers from the Gurktal dominate the young talent competitions in Carinthia.

At the age of 13, Hinteregger left the rural area and entered the boarding school of the FC Salzburg youth academy. The mother does not want to let him go, but finally has to give in. The path through all youth teams to their first assignment in the professional team in Salzburg is mapped out. Huub Stevens challenges and encourages the then almost 18-year-old with regular appearances in the Austrian Bundesliga and soon in the Europa League.

While other aspiring young professionals spend their money on restaurant visits, designer fashion and trendy smartphones, Martin Hinteregger stays down to earth. The enthusiastic hunter makes calls with an old clamshell cell phone, plays the accordion and drives to Carinthia as often as possible. In the winter months he plays in the ice hockey club in the neighboring village. But the tough rules of the game of professional business shape his life more and more, the carefreeness disappears. The mental stress is increasing, the valves for releasing pressure are becoming more and more diverse.

Farewell from Salzburg in a dispute

Hinteregger complains about the annual sale of the best Salzburg players to Leipzig, another club in the Red Bull football empire. Ralf Rangnick is the responsible strategist in the background. The ambitious defense chief’s wish to keep the team together over a longer period of time in order to be successful in the European Cup is not fulfilled; Finally, Hinteregger asks Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz for a discussion.

When he is supposed to go to Leipzig himself, he refuses. In January 2016, Hinteregger was first loaned out to Borussia Mönchengladbach, before landing in Augsburg in August of the same year.

The past few weeks and months have been a trough of emotions for Hinteregger. In the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt is only 11th, compared to winning the Europa League. Hinteregger is a key part of Frankfurt’s success story with his last-minute goal in extra time in the round of 16 second leg against Betis Sevilla (officially it’s an own goal, but Hinteregger had his shoulder on the ball). However, he will miss the final due to a muscle injury. The disappointment is great, the thirst at the victory celebration even greater, the next day he misses the farewell of his teammate Stefan Ilsanker.

After that, Hinteregger devotes himself to it Hinti Cup from June 18th, a tournament for amateur soccer players in Sirnitz and the surrounding area. Hinti fans travel to Hinti country by charter flights and buses. Football should be played and celebrated.

After the media storm, Hinteregger describes himself as naive

When a journalist published an article about the Hinti Cup business partner, the FPÖ politician Heinrich Sickl and his connections to the right-wing scene, the pressure from the media and the club on Hinteregger became so great that he broke off the business relationship and the tournament with financial problems Loss implemented alone. He was naive not to have researched Sickl’s background.

On Thursday, Hinteregger asked Eintracht to immediately terminate his contract, which runs until 2024. What remains is an unfinished football career at the age of 29 between genius and self-harm.