No political plaything

Siegendorf forgoes support from the state!

(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

It's not easy being chairman of Ostliga club Siegendorf. Stefan Strommer is currently experiencing this first hand. After the departure and loan demand of former president Peter Krenmayr, the sporting downturn with a change of coach - politics is now also getting involved. However, the board of directors waves it away: "We are not a pawn of politics and reject the funds from the state!"

It's not really easy for chairman Stefan Strommer at ASV Siegendorf at the moment. The Burgenland club just can't get out of the headlines. First the resignation of president Peter Krenmayr - then the loan repayment of almost 300,000 euros from the long-standing patron. But that was not all. Politicians also had their say - they wanted to help Siegendorf with 180,000 euros. But the club has now waved it off. They don't want to be instrumentalized, discredited and certainly not criminalized.

Another win at last
Things are also going very slowly in the 3rd division - the resignation of championship-winning coach Nikolaus Schilhan had to be digested only recently. Although they were able to beat the Young Violets 2:1 away from home at the weekend, they are still a long way off their target - with 16 points from 14 games, they are only eleventh in the table. In the last game of the fall championship, they have to play at home against their neighbors Leobendorf - a win is a must!

The board is fighting back and has now spoken out in a press release:

It is with regret and astonishment that we have taken note of the developments of the last few days, which is why we are making the following clarifications: ASV Siegendorf and its bodies are resisting being misused by individual political opposition parties for their own purposes. Instead of supporting clubs and volunteer officials, two opposition parties have attempted to play politics on the backs of the officials, club members and young people. Due to these attempts and the associated negative media coverage, we have decided to increase our existing loan ourselves and forego the funds from the state. The members of the Executive Board are of course liable for these funds themselves.

However, we would like to expressly thank the state for its willingness to support us. Contrary to the statements made by two political parties, no funds have yet been received from the state. Although we could have made good use of these funds to improve the infrastructure, we do not want to be instrumentalized, discredited or even criminalized. It should be made clear once again that we would of course only have used the state funds in accordance with the guidelines. However, this discussion is now superfluous anyway.

The current increase in credit is also necessary because the long-standing president of ASV Siegendorf, Mr. Peter Krenmayr, entered into massive financial obligations for ASV with a power of attorney granted to him and did not fully inform the other bodies about this. Contrary to his statements in the media, Mr. Krenmayr did not leave ASV in a solid financial situation; on the contrary, the club has repeatedly struggled with a tight liquidity situation in the past.

In addition, Mr. Krenmayr now claims to have given loans to the club and is now demanding their repayment after years of publicly appearing as a patron and benefactor of the club. The association will therefore defend itself against these alleged loans and also have a legal review carried out to determine which legal transactions Mr. Krenmayr has concluded with the power of attorney granted to him and whether the association has suffered any damage as a result.

Mr. Krenmayr has steered the fortunes of the club for years, concluded contracts, paid out money and hired players. It is surprising that he is now distancing himself from precisely these activities and the associated costs. As is usual in a constitutional state, the courts will then clarify who is in the right here. We will continue to work with full commitment for our ASV Siegendorf in the future and hope that calm will now return.
The officials of ASV Siegendorf
 i.V. Chairman Stefan Strommer