“This is a person who hasn’t even been charged yet.”

VfB Stuttgart released a statement yesterday confirming that defensive midfield Atakan Karazor would indeed be returning to the club after his release from pre-trial detention on Thursday. 

Speaking to reporters following a test-match against Valencia on Saturday, VfB sporting director Sven Mislintat reiterated the the lack of formal charges against the player justified bringing Karazor back into the fold. 

This summer’s arrest incident involving VfB Stuttgart’s Atakan Karazor in Ibiza six weeks ago has sparked calls for the 25-year-old’s Bundesliga club to permanently cut ties with him. On Saturday, VfB sporting director Sven Mislintat was placed in the position of having to explain why the club announced that Karazor would be reporting to training camp in the coming days.

“You’ll have to look at it from his perspective,” Mislintat noted, “A lot of shady things have been written and a lot of demands have been made– especially on social media–about how this [player] remains compatible with our values [as a club]. I’ve no understanding of how a conversation can devolve in such a direction.”

“This is a person who hasn’t even been charged yet,” Mislintat went on to emphasize, “If it comes to prosecution, we’ll have to rethink it. [Until then], he is clearly our player and a full member of our squad.”

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