Almost 12,000 fans of the Bundesliga soccer club VfB Stuttgart are in favor of extending the contract of sports director Sven Mislintat. The signatures collected in an online petition are to be handed over to CEO Alexander Wehrle this Thursday. "We fear a relapse into the old days and non-transparent structures," said the signatories in a statement published on Tuesday. "The repeated postponement of the negotiations is a thorn in our side and we have clear expectations of the club, which is currently not living up to its claims at all."

Mislintat's contract expires on June 30, 2023. Negotiations on his future are set to begin "without pressure" this week, said Wehrle, who predicts the Table-16's schedule. recently defended again and again.

In September, the CEO apparently brought in his new advisors Sami Khedira and Philipp Lahm without prior consultation with Mislintat and hired ex-captain Christian Gentner to head the licensed players department for the new year. The online petition was then launched. It is true that Mislintat and Wehrle tried to publicly emphasize that the discrepancies had been resolved. Rumors that the relationship is said to be difficult have persisted ever since.

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