Austria international and Eintracht Frankfurt professional Martin Hinteregger has quit his cooperation with a far-right business partner, according to a report in “Standpunkte”. Hinteregger actually wanted to organise a football event in his home village after Eintracht’s European Cup victory – together with the Austrian far-right Heinrich Sickl.
On Instagram, the 29-year-old footballer now writes: “I have no knowledge of past or future activities on the part of the Sickl family, I just want to organise a football tournament and nothing more.
Any business relationship with the Sickl family will be terminated with immediate effect due to the current state of knowledge, and the “Hinti Cup” event will be examined as an alternative in order to clarify a further course of action.
I have friends all over the world through my time in professional football and also privately, and clearly reject accusations that I am right-wing oriented, and continue to stand up against any kind of discrimination!”
In view of the fact that Hinteregger’s home village of Sirnitz in Carinthia has less than 300 inhabitants, it hardly seems credible to many that the professional footballer did not know about the political views of his business partner.
Hinteregger is regarded as a somewhat different professional footballer who likes to go hunting and has deliberately chosen an old mobile phone model. In an interview, the Austrian said he “would have preferred to be a professional in the 80s and lived a funnier, more authentic life for it”.
This also raises the question of whether he manages his social media accounts himself.
Journalist Michael Bonvalut states on Twitter the success of his research.
In response to my research, Eintracht player Martin Hinteregger ends his collaboration with right-wing extremist Heinrich Sickl. Critical journalism works.
The research: https://t.co/q35YhdDRZv
If you like the research: Support opportunity at the end! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ih1WzJ0tXe
– Michael Bonvalot (@MichaelBonvalot) June 9, 2022
T-online also reports extensively on the case of Martin Hinteregger, who – according to journalist Stefan Simon – is “earning ridicule and malice” in the social media.
Mockery and malice is being reaped by @Eintracht professional Martin Hinteregger on social media for his cooperation with a right-wing extremist in his home community in Austria Hinteregger himself has probably now pulled the ripcord. @tonline https://t.co/6EqtZfde6z
– Stefan Simon (@stepi_simon) June 9, 2022
"Jo mei, i come from the same village, no one could have guessed that they are Nazis, besides, i have friends from abroad",
is only half convincing as an explanation and even less credible.
In my eyes at least. Hinteregger pic.twitter.com/3BRwFz5V3T- DennisKBerlin (@DennisKBerlin) June 9, 2022
Especially those familiar with the extreme right-wing scene do not find Hinteregger's explanations very convincing.