Football
Stefan Uersfeld 9y

DFL managing director Andreas Rettig eyes Bundesliga club return

Andreas Rettig is set to leave the German Football League (DFL) after only two years, with the 51-year-old wanting a return to club football.

Rettig has worked in various capacities for Bundesliga clubs Bayer Leverkusen, Freiburg, Cologne and Augsburg, and in January 2013 -- six months after quitting his job as the Augsburg sporting director -- joined the DFL as a managing director.

But just one year before the end of his first contract, Rettig asked the supervisory board of DFL to prematurely release him from his contract. On Tuesday, the league granted him his wish, and released him from his contract "effective of June 30," the DFL announced.

"I have come to the conclusion that my own future lies in club football," Rettig was quoted as saying by the league's official website.

The 51-year-old will leave the DFL in March "in the interests of fair competition" before the evaluation of the licensing documents for the upcoming season, the DFL added.

Retting said that he asked the DFL to terminate his contract "before any specific thought had been given to the future tasks."

Still, within minutes he was linked with a job at Eintracht Frankfurt, where current CEO Heribert Bruchhagen is set to leave the club in the summer of 2016, though the Bundesliga side were quick to reject the rumours.

During his two years at the DFL, Rettig mediated the conflict between supporters and the league, which had culminated in the 12:12 protests (following club discussions on Dec. 12 2012 concerning stadium security) prior to his arrival.

He was also responsible for the upcoming introduction of goal-line technology in the Bundesliga for the 2015-16 season.

"We are grateful to him for this," DFL management chairman Christian Seifert added.

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