HSV release statement correcting Stefan Kuntz's reasoning for departure | OneFootball

The supervisory board of Hamburger SV Fußball Management has commented on the recent media reports about Stefan Kuntz's departure as a board member on December 31, 2025.

The statements made by Stefan Kuntz regarding the reasons for his departure necessitate the following corrections, as written by the club in a statement of their own this afternoon:

1. Credible evidence of serious breaches of duty:  The misconduct, credibly described independently by several whistleblowers and leading to internal investigations, encompasses numerous serious breaches of duty that should have prompted any responsible supervisory board to take action. Not only the applicable (employment law) deadlines in such cases, but also the responsibility for our employees and the defense of HSV's values necessitated swift and decisive action by the supervisory board.

2. Multiple offers of hearings/information about the allegations: The repeated claim that Stefan Kuntz was not informed about the allegations against him and was not given the opportunity to refute them is demonstrably false.

On December 18, Stefan Kuntz was formally informed about the investigation; on December 19, his then lawyers were informed in anonymized form of the contents of all witness statements available up to that point.

After Stefan Kuntz announced on December 20 (on the sidelines of a home game, speaking to members of the supervisory board) that he wished to make a statement, his lawyers offered him two dates (December 22/23) for a hearing; Stefan Kuntz and his lawyers declined these offers. Subsequently, at Stefan Kuntz's request, the HSV supervisory board proposed two further specific hearing dates by December 27, which were postponed or canceled by Stefan Kuntz or his lawyers. On December 27, Stefan Kuntz informed us of a change in his legal counsel and requested a hearing date on December 29 at 11:00 a.m. The supervisory board confirmed this date to the new lawyers.

On the eve of this hearing, Stefan Kuntz, through his lawyers, announced that he would no longer be available for a hearing and instead wished to use the date to negotiate a termination agreement. Stefan Kuntz declined to attend the hearing. At this hearing, Stefan Kuntz's new lawyers were offered the opportunity to reiterate the allegations established up to that point in detail. Stefan Kuntz's new lawyers declined, stating that they were already aware of the allegations.

3. Stefan Kuntz's choice: It is also not true that it was said to Stefan Kuntz that his hearing could lead to the allegations becoming public.

He was told that an amicable termination agreement was a way to avoid a lengthy and potentially public investigation. He was told that, knowing the validity of the allegations, he was best placed to judge whether this was advisable. Based on this information, and advised by several lawyers, Stefan Kuntz voluntarily decided to enter into the termination agreement.

In this context, Stefan Kuntz, through his lawyers, proposed withdrawing his criminal complaint so that his wish to communicate the separation discreetly would not be thwarted. We now know that the content of this criminal complaint, which we only received on December 30th, is demonstrably false, at least in part.

The supervisory board of HSV considers it regrettable, in the interest of all affected persons, that these public corrections have become necessary, and asks for understanding that it will neither disclose the specific breaches of duty it has identified nor comment on media reports from third parties regarding alleged other matters.