Eager to devote himself to his faith, which prevents him from playing on Saturdays, the Swiss Silvan Wallner retired at the age of 22.
At only 22 years old, Silvan Wallner made the decision to end his career. Two months after signing with the Austrian club FC Blau-Weiß Linz, the Swiss announced to its leaders his desire to devote himself to his faith, which was no longer compatible with his professional activity.
“The biblical day of rest has become important to me”
“I am a believing Christian and I read the Bible. I make my own decisions about my life,” Wallner said in a club statement, which also denied ever being a member of a church. “I want to follow Jesus Christ and the biblical day of rest has become important to me.”
Swiss champion with FC Zurich in 2022, his training club, the full-back has rubbed shoulders with all the youth teams in his country. He was still in the squad for the Espoirs team last September, a month after participating in the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League with FC Zürich.
His last appearance on the field dates back to last Saturday October 26, in the Austrian championship. “For me, as a professional, this means that from now on I do not want to play football on Saturdays for commercial purposes,” explained Silvan Wallner. “This is my personal conviction, which I have come to in recent days.”
