Stefan Kuntz: Response to Allegations

According to the SZ report, the allegations against Kuntz were never intended to become public. The women who accused the Saarlander of serious misconduct had to read their recorded statements in a protected data room so that nothing leaked out. The club’s staff were advised not to comment to the media.

The meeting with the two supervisory board members is said to have taken place on December 18th. According to Kuntz, the termination of the contract was already “a done deal” at the time, according to SZ. To this day he doesn’t know what he’s being accused of and by whom.

According to the SZ, five women are said to have made the allegations. It’s about verbal harassment, inappropriate touching and lewdness. Kuntz rejects all of the allegations. He himself filed a criminal complaint for stalking six days before the meeting with the supervisory board. It is said to be about anonymous calls and love messages that he received. The SZ was able to view copies of the messages. Employees also sought to be close to him and confided in him private matters. The ad was intended to put an end to this.

According to the SZ report, the first employee contacted a supervisory board member on December 4th. A day later, the control committee decided to have the allegation investigated independently by a law firm. During the conversation on December 18, Kuntz said he insisted on being heard. However, this was rejected in order to prevent further investigations into the allegations from potentially making them public.

At the home game on December 20th against Eintracht Frankfurt, Kuntz once again confronted three HSV supervisory board members with the words: “You are destroying a reputation and a family.” On the same day, his lawyers had already received a termination agreement.

According to the SZ report, the contract that seals the separation stipulates that he will still receive his full salary from January to March. From April to June he should still receive 50 percent of his salary. Kuntz decided in Saarland to end the HSV chapter and agree to the contract. He also committed himself to withdrawing the complaint from December 12th.

The separation between Kuntz and the club was announced on January 2nd. 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 related to allegations of alleged misconduct by Kuntz.

His lawyer Christian Schertz told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”: To this day, Kuntz does not know “what exactly is being accused of him by which person and in which situation.” However, the statement from the HSV supervisory board states: “Mr. Kuntz explicitly did not take advantage of the opportunity to comment to the supervisory board despite multiple offers.”