Mass exodus continues at Rapid Vienna following UEFA Europa Conference League exit

Mass exodus at Rapid Vienna following resignation of president and managing director

Mass exodus at Rapid Vienna following resignation of president and managing director. Image: Jean-Marc Pierard/Shutterstock.com

AUSTRIAN football club Rapid Vienna has experienced a mass exodus of senior members of the club after a humiliating defeat in a major club competition.

Following defeat to Liechtenstein’s FC Vaduz in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers, Rapid Vienna’s president Martin Bruckner officially withdrew his candidacy for re-election on Saturday, August 27 and the management level exodus continued on Sunday, August 28.

Bruckner said on Saturday, August 27: “I take overall responsibility for the current situation of our club.

“I had a lot of discussions both on the day of the match against Vaduz and afterwards, which finally led to this decision.”

According to reports coming out of Austria following Bruckner’s shock announcement, Rapid legend Steffen Hofmann is the current front-runner for the role.

His departure was followed by the head of the commercial side of the multiple-time Austrian league champions.

Rapid’s managing director Christoph Peschek announced his resignation on Sunday, August 28: “Why I should be responsible for the defeat against Vaduz, I don’t know.”

He added: “[I’ve felt] a lot of negative energy around the club recently but I hope that my move will bring back more constructiveness [to the club].

“Of course, I am available for an orderly transition.”

Despite the departure of the club’s top management level figures, the club has kept faith with head coach Ferdinand Feldhofer.

Rapid sporting director Zoran Barisic said: “We know that Rapid is a very emotional club, a very explosive place. It’s important to draw the right conclusions, but also to stay calm.”

Vienna lost 2-1 on aggregate to FC Vaduz, a professional football club from Vaduz, Liechtenstein that plays in the Swiss Challenge League.


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Written by

Matthew Roscoe

Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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