Swiss Silvan Wallner (left) has announced his retirement from sport at the age of 22.Image: KEYSTONE
Silvan Wallner is no longer a professional footballer. The former FC Zurich player and member of Les Rougets retired from sport at just 22 years old. Here’s why.
11.11.2024, 16:5011.11.2024, 19:22
His career seemed promising and had only just begun. Trained at FC Zurich, Silvan Wallner made his professional debut in 2020, at the age of 18, and became Swiss champion two years later, still in the colors of FCZ. Passed by Wil on loan, Wallner played this season in the Austrian first division, at FC Blau-Weiss Linz.
The 22-year-old defender also had a successful international career, having worn the Swiss jersey in various youth categories. He was again summoned last October with the Rougets, to play in the Euro Espoirs qualifiers. But he will not participate, as he will no longer play for a club, even though his contract ran until 2026.
Silvan Wallner has ended his professional career, as his club announced on Sunday on the sidelines of the clash against Red Bull Salzburg. And the reason may surprise more than one, since it is religious, according to the player’s words.
“It is important to me to thank the managers, the staff and the entire Blau-Weiß Linz team. I would also like to say a big thank you to everyone who has accompanied and supported me on a sporting level so far. I am a devout Christian and I read the Bible. I make the decisions for my life myself. I am not yet a member of a church. I want to follow Jesus Christ and the biblical day of rest has become important to me. This means that from now on I no longer want to play football professionally on Saturdays. This is my personal conviction, which I have come to in recent days.”
Silvan Wallner in a club press release
The player would therefore not be a member of any church. However, different media claim that it is linked to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a denomination considering Saturday as a day of rest and communion with God, which is therefore incompatible with the profession of footballer, a profession requiring work on Saturday, match day.
This is not the first time that a Swiss footballer has given up working on weekends because of his religion. In 2011, Johan Vonlanthen, a former international, asked not to play on Saturdays when signing up for Rionegro Aguilas in Colombia.
(roc)
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