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FCL sports director Remo Meyer breaks his silence in Marbella, Spain.
At the beginning of the week, Bernhard Alpstaeg apologized for some of his statements in mid-autumn. The aim of the Alpstaeg attack at the time: President Stefan Wolf and sports director Remo Meyer, the latter then refrained from making public statements. In the training camp, Meyer breaks his silence in a double interview with Wolf.
Stefan Wolf, Remo Meyer – do you accept Bernhard Alpstaeg’s apology?
Stephen Wolf: I have read Mr Alpstaeg’s recent comments and I accept the apology.
Remo Meyer: Dito. For me that’s okay.
Are Alpstaeg’s partly conciliatory tones at the beginning of the week the first step towards a joint solution for FC Luzern?
Wolf: As we have already emphasized in the past, we have always been open to talks, and we are not moving away from this attitude.
Personal: Stefan Wolf
Stefan Wolf’s (51) name is closely linked to FC Luzern. He has been President and CEO of the club since 2021. He also has an FCL past as a player. He was under contract from 1990 to 1997. Wolf’s other great football love is FC St. Gallen. He ended his career in Eastern Switzerland in 2006. Wolf has two children and is married to Sarah Wolf. With her he founded the web agency Wolf + Web.
Stefan Wolf’s (51) name is closely linked to FC Luzern. He has been President and CEO of the club since 2021. He also has an FCL past as a player. He was under contract from 1990 to 1997. Wolf’s other great football love is FC St. Gallen. He ended his career in Eastern Switzerland in 2006. Wolf has two children and is married to Sarah Wolf. With her he founded the web agency Wolf + Web.
The other board members of FCL Holding AG were also in Marbella until Tuesday. To make plans for further action against Bernhard Alpstaeg?
Wolf: That has nothing to do with that. The atmosphere of a training camp offers an opportunity to create closeness between the management and the players and the coaching staff. And to convey to them that they and their achievements should be the priority in a football club.
Meyer: It is also the wish of the sports department that the board of directors is present at the training camp. That was always the case before Corona.
Remo Meyer, you were the bone of contention that triggered the FCL dispute between Alpstaeg and the board of directors. How have you experienced the past few months?
Meyer: At first it was surprising and then a very sad story. For the whole of FC Luzern, for which I, like every other employee, give my full support. I tried to concentrate on working with the first team and our great youth department, and I basically did that well. Although there have been days when it was difficult to keep a clear head.
You had to reckon with not having a job after the Annual General Meeting just before Christmas. Can one continue to work normally under this sword of Damocles?
Meyer: The situation left its mark on me, and of course I thought about my situation. Over time, I was able to put on a protective shield and concentrate on my job, which I’ve been doing here for five and a half years and which I really enjoy.
Personal: Remo Meyer
Remo Meyer (42) has been head of sport at FC Luzern for five and a half years. The man from Langenthal launched his career as a footballer at the FCL. He then moved to Lausanne, TSV 1860 Munich and Red Bull Salzburg, among others. In Austria he had his most successful time. Meyer is the father of two sons.
Remo Meyer (42) has been head of sport at FC Luzern for five and a half years. The man from Langenthal launched his career as a footballer at the FCL. He then moved to Lausanne, TSV 1860 Munich and Red Bull Salzburg, among others. In Austria he had his most successful time. Meyer is the father of two sons.
They are accused of being too close and making crooked deals with player advisor Agron Krasniqi. Because you continue to work with him, Alpstaeg wanted you kicked out and imposed a stadium ban on Krasniqi, which has since been lifted. Are the allegations justified?
Meyer: I’ve been in the business for a long time now and have a clear conscience on all sides. I don’t want to say more about the events of the last four months, but rather continue my work at the FCL.
Have you thought about retiring in the last few months?
Meyer: Honestly, such thoughts went through my head. But nothing more. I care too much about the club and my staff to give up our work for the past five years over such sad stories. The FCL is my home club and that’s why I kept going.
At the origin of the unrest was Alpstaeg’s demand to replace the sports director. Has the board of directors considered a “sacrifice” of Meyer?
Wolf: Why?
To avoid escalation.
Wolf: We are convinced of Remo’s work and he was not guilty of anything. At no time was there any reason to think about a change in sporting director.
You have been FCL President for two years. Would you take office again, knowing how turbulent it would be?
Wolf: Many people have recently asked me this question. Clearly yes! I’ve also enjoyed going to work every day for the past few weeks.
Can the club even plan for the future because of the stalemate in the shareholder dispute?
Wolf: The “Gschtürm” has no influence on our daily work. The sporting department can concentrate on its work, and we on the Board of Directors try to create the best possible conditions for this.
The FCL needs a bank guarantee of five million for the license application at the beginning of March. Where should the money come from if both Alpstaeg and Josef Bieri do not want to pay because of the shareholder dispute?
Wolf: We will apply for the license for the next season as usual. I don’t want to comment any further at the moment because we don’t want a media ping-pong with Bernhard Alpstaeg, but are interested in a constructive solution.
A projection by the board of directors predicts a loss of more than 30 million by 2025, should it come to “FC Alpstaeg”. Sometimes because the average number of spectators in the Swissporarena would drop to 6,000 (currently a good 11,000). Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?
Wolf: As I said, I will not comment further on the interview with Bernhard Alpstaeg and I will not comment on the content of documents in public.
Mr. Meyer, you are looking for a striker with a goal guarantee. Are you unhappy with Dejan Sorgic, Asumah Abubakar and Joaquin Ardaiz?
Meyer: We don’t have the goal rate that we would like from our strikers, so we’re looking for another striker with finishing quality. Dejan has been struggling with injuries for a long time, with Ardaiz it’s the case that neither we nor he are satisfied with the performance in the preliminary round.
FC Luzern traditionally plays better in spring than in autumn. A good omen for the second half of the season?
Meyer: Let’s hope so! We want to be better than in autumn when, after a lot of good performances, we had problems in terms of results and strength towards the end of the preliminary round and dropped too many points.
Wolf: We don’t aim for a place in the table, we want to attract spectators to the stadium with attractive football and be successful. In the future, talks about FC Luzern should again be primarily about football.
Credit Suisse Super League
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