Borussia Monchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl has stepped down from the role after becoming "drained" and "tired".
Eberl has served in the post for 13 years but confirmed on Friday at an emotional news conference that he was calling it quits.
The former Gladbach defender, who signed as a player in 1999, revealed that he was no longer enjoying the job.
"This is by far the hardest press conference I have had to hold in my time as sporting director at Borussia," said Eberl.
"I am drained. I am tired. I just no longer have the energy to carry on fulfilling this role in the way the club deserves.
"After 23 years [with Gladbach], I'm calling time on what has become my life. My work here has always been a joy, but there are things in and around the job that are no fun any more."
He leaves at a time when Adi Hutter's side are slipping down the table amid a run of just four points from the past eight games, while second-tier Hannover dumped them out of the DFB-Pokal this month.
But Eberl, who extended his contract in 2020, insists the team's slide has nothing to do with his decision.
"I can understand the people who might question the timing of my decision with the position the club is in," he said.
"But I just don't have the strength to keep doing this job the way I have for so long.
"I extended my contract 13 months ago and would never have thought that I'd be sitting here today. I'm somebody who puts 100 per cent into everything I do. I have done that for 13 years as sporting director."
Speaking about his plans for life after football, he added: "I just want to be Max Eberl. I want to see the world and just focus on myself for once in my life.
"I haven't made this decision in order to move to another club. For now, I don't want anything to do with football.
"My wish is for football to be the focus rather than making a circus of everything surrounding it. I feel like more respect is needed. There had already been abuse and rumours about my decision before I had even said a single word.
"You don't have to worry about me. I will enjoy myself and perhaps I'll just fall off the map for a while. It was an honour to be able to work for Borussia Mönchengladbach."
Motta revels in ‘team victory’ as Juventus overcome Udinese
Thiago Motta hailed Juventus’ 2-0 triumph at Udinese as a real “team victory” as the Bianconeri snapped their three-match winless streak.
Following a Champions League defeat and two league draws, Juve moved up to third in the Serie A standings with a comfortable triumph at Bluenergy Stadium.
An own goal from goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and a strike from Nicolo Savona handed Juve victory, as they went unbeaten through their first 11 matches of a Serie A season for the first time since 2020-21.
"This is a team victory, because we interpreted the match in the best way," Juve coach Motta told DAZN.
"In the first half, we could have played a bit more because Udinese allowed us to build from the back, the initial build-up.
"We moved the ball around and sometimes found some very interesting situations, but we lacked some depth at that moment, especially with our wingers
"Udinese have great confidence at the moment, we were good at compacting and playing."
Juventus next play at Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday before hosting cross-city rivals Torino in next Saturday's Turin derby.
"Today we have to enjoy this important victory for us and recover in view of Tuesday when the Champions League returns," Motta added.
"It will be very interesting to play against Lille. They have an extra day of recovery because they played yesterday, we will have to rest well to face this match well."
Gen Sec Dennis Chung defends JFF’s decision to rehire Busby; labels media allegations as “witch hunt”
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) General Secretary Dennis Chung has defended the decision to rehire Hubert Busby Jr as the senior Reggae Girlz Head coach, as he pointed out that the country’s governing football body conducted due diligence before moving forward.
Chung’s declaration is in response to an article published by British daily newspaper The Guardian, alleging that the JFF misrepresented Busby’s reinstatement, stating that he was cleared of sexual misconduct allegations by Fifa’s Ethics Committee.
He dismissed the article published on Friday and headlined “Jamaica FA falsely claims women’s team coach was cleared of alleged sexual misconduct” as a “witch hunt” and accused the outlet of distorting facts and overlooking critical details.
This, as the article cast doubt on Busby’s “clearance,” noting that Fifa’s Ethics Committee had closed the preliminary investigation due to a statute of limitations without formally exonerating him.
SportsMax.Tv obtained a copy of the correspondent from the Investigatory Chamber of Fifa's Ethics Committee stating that the investigation against Busby was closed based on information available. An email titled 'Fifa Clearance Letter' was also obtained, the content of which clarified that Busby was clear to seek employment.
Since the article surfaced, SportsMax.Tv has been reliably informed that Busby is in the process of filing a defamation lawsuit against someone in the UK. It is not clear if the individual is an employee at the British newspaper.
Busby was reappointed Reggae Girlz Head coach earlier this year, after he was initially suspended by the JFF in 2021, when the allegation of sexual misconduct was brought against him by former player Malloree Enoch.
Enoch alleged that Busby made sexual advances towards her during his time in charge at the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s outfit between 2010 and 2011. Busby denied the allegations.
“Do you think that the JFF, which is the organisation that dismissed Busby when the allegation was made, wouldn’t have done our due diligence? The technical committee received information to say that the investigation has closed and there was nothing based on the information that they had; there was nothing to support what was alleged,” Chung told SportsMax.Tv.
“The letter had stated that Fifa closed the investigation based on the information available. They never referred to any statute of limitations, as the article said. In addition to that, there was an email that Busby forwarded from Fifa stating that he could share it with us for employment purposes,” he added.
Chung clarified that contrary to the statement that he declined multiple requests for interviews and comments, he only received one call from a Guardian journalist, whom he directed to Busby or his legal representatives.
“They said that they reached out to me multiple times; that is not true. They called me once, and I told them, just like any organisation would, that Busby is a staff member and I am not at liberty to discuss his situation or give out any information on him. I told them they should call Busby, as it is he they need to get that information from,” Chung shared.
Chung also rubbished the claim in The Guardian article that several witnesses—including Enoch—were not interviewed by Fifa’s Ethics Committee.
“Does that make sense? If she is the one that made the allegations, do you think Fifa wouldn’t interview her? So what it is, it’s a witch hunt that they are on; it is almost as if they are saying he is still guilty even though the investigation is closed, and that is totally ridiculous,” Chung opined.
Finally, Chung said he is deeply disappointed by the article, which he believes unfairly targets Busby. He also expressed the view that the report adds unnecessary scrutiny to an issue that the JFF and Fifa have already addressed through established protocols.
“I don’t understand what it is about, but there is obviously something behind it. Because the letter never said the investigation was closed based on the statute of limitation, it said the investigation was closed based on the information that they had,” he noted.
“Not because an allegation is made means you’re going to hold it against a man for the rest of his life. Allegations are made against politicians all over, and they are still in positions of authority. You can’t because an allegation is made against a man; hold it against him, and there is nothing to prove that it happened,” Chung ended.
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 RB Leipzig: Sahin picks up much-needed comeback win
Borussia Dortmund fought back to beat RB Leipzig 2-1 and claim a morale-boosting Bundesliga win for under-pressure boss Nuri Sahin.
Dortmund bounced back from a three-game losing streak in all competitions despite having nine players missing for Saturday's clash at Signal Iduna Park.
Leipzig took the lead when Benjamin Sesko lashed home from a tight angle in the 27th minute, though Dortmund had spurned several gilt-edged chances by that stage.
Dortmund responded within three minutes, though, with Maximilian Beier pouncing onto a loose ball to prod in.
The turnaround was completed when Serhou Guirassy headed in from close range in the 65th minute.
While Leipzig suffered their first league defeat of the campaign, Dortmund sit fifth.
Data Debrief: Sahin's home fortress
Dortmund's troubles this season, at least domestically, have come mainly on the road, but they have been excellent at home and this win continued that form.
Sahin has won each of his first five Bundesliga home games in charge of Dortmund, a feat previously only achieved by Marco Rose (seven wins), who of course was in the opposite dugout on Saturday.
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