Massombo Case? "Will Come to Nothing"

Fabio Ingolitsch is facing serious accusations from his former club, SCR Altach.

The Sturm Graz coach became the villain in the case involving striking Altach professional Yann Massombo because he spoke with his former player about a move to Graz before their direct encounter.

While Altach reserved the right to take legal action, experienced player agents rule out far-reaching consequences.

"I'd be furious"

“It’s common practice for people to be on the phone. Coaches speak with players, clubs speak with players who are still under contract; that’s completely normal. Sometimes it’s perhaps a bit smarter to do it through agents,” player agent Max Hagmayr told APA.

The uproar from Altach's side is understandable. "Someone has to be left holding the bag. As a club, I would be furious."

However, Hagmayr does not believe there will be consequences for Sturm or Ingolitsch. "Everything will come to nothing. It will be impossible to prove either that coach Ingolitsch conducted contract negotiations or that he incited the player to strike. The contact shortly before the match was, if it happened, extremely clumsy."

Will Altach Involve Senate 2 or FIFA?

Ingolitsch spoke on the sidelines of the game, which his team won 1-0 on Saturday, describing it as a standard industry practice during the transfer window. The exact wording of the conversation with Massombo remains unknown. "I believe we have done nothing wrong," explained Michael Parensen, Sturm's sporting director.

Altach announced that it would examine labor law steps against the player as well as legal steps against Sturm. A possible course of action would be to go before Bundesliga Senate 2, the arbitration and control committee. According to Bundesliga statements, this has not happened yet. According to "Krone," CEO Christoph Längle is considering reporting the case to FIFA in Zurich.

"Professional Football Has a Short Memory"

According to ÖFB regulations, an interested club must demonstrably inform the current club before initiating contract negotiations with a player. This, as both sides confirmed, did not happen.

However, it is questionable whether contact initiated by the coach already constitutes a contract negotiation. "There's nothing wrong with Sturm being interested in a player. Here, it's primarily about the timing and the reaction of the player, who is striking," Hagmayr said.

He is particularly annoyed by Massombo's behavior. However, he sees no long-term consequences for any of those involved. "Professional football has a short memory."

Agents Speak of "Weakness of Character"

For player agent Frank Schreier, the uproar is completely incomprehensible.

“Anyone can talk to anyone. The important thing is that no new contract is signed six months before the current contract expires. I don’t want to take sides, but for me, this fuss is absolute nonsense,” the player agent told Salzburg24.

“It is completely normal for a coach to talk to a player about a possible transfer. Where would we be if conversations were banned?” Schreier said.

Like industry colleagues who wished not to be named, he also criticized the player's behavior, who abandoned his team and club. "When you do something like that, it shows a weakness of character."