Harassment allegations
Stefan Kuntz talks about separating from HSV – and defends himself
What exactly is ex-HSV sports director Stefan Kuntz accused of in the harassment affair? The 63-year-old speaks publicly for the first time about the details of his separation from the club.
After his surprising departure as sports director at Hamburger SV, former national soccer player Stefan Kuntz once again publicly defended himself against the allegations that led to his departure. The 63-year-old told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ) about the crucial conversation with two HSV supervisory board members: “I thought: Ah, now they’re coming to finally extend my contract.” Instead, the desired separation was opened to him.
Stefan Kuntz does not want to know specific allegations from HSV
On January 2nd, Kuntz’s departure from HSV became public. First of all, the HSV’s communication mentioned “family reasons”. However, one day after a report in “Bild am Sonntag”, the supervisory board announced that the departure was in connection with allegations of alleged misconduct by Kuntz – according to “Bild”, this was said to have involved verbal harassment, inappropriate touching and offensive remarks towards female employees of the club (the stern reported). The 1996 European champion is presumed innocent.
Kuntz’s lawyer Christian Schertz told the SZ: To this day, Kuntz doesn’t know “what exactly is being accused of him by which person and in which situation.” In contradiction to the lawyer’s statement, Stefan Kuntz rejects the allegations, according to the SZ. “Some things never happened, other situations he describes in a similar context, but with crucial nuances and different intentions,” says the paper. The HSV supervisory board had stated: “Mr. Kuntz explicitly did not take advantage of the opportunity to comment to the supervisory board despite multiple offers.”
Even before the allegations became public, Kuntz had filed a stalking complaint against unknown persons with the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office – but withdrew it a short time later. According to SZ, this was agreed in the termination agreement between Kuntz and HSV. The investigations by Hamburg prosecutors are still continuing. A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office said that withdrawing the criminal complaint would have no influence on this stern.
with DPA material
