Darmstadt confirm leave-of-absence for trainer Lieberknecht

Bundesliga side SV Darmstadt 98 confirmed that head-coach Torsten Liberknecht had been granted a leave-of-absence to attend to a serious personal matter on Monday evening. 

Newly promoted side SV Darmstadt 98 will be without their trainer for the indefinite future. Club President Rüdiger Fritsch released a statement on Monday confirming that the 50-year-old had been granted a leave-of-absence in order to attend to his wife after she suffered a stroke. Fritsch noted that the matter “was commanding all of Torsten’s strength and attention.

“He is receiving every possible support from us as a club so that he can devote himself fully to his wife and family,” Fritsch’s statement reads, “His return is open-ended.”

The Darmstadt squad will be trained by assistants Ovid Hajou, Kai Peter Schmitz, and Dimo Wache will also be involved. In the event that Lieberknecht cannot return to the bench in time for the team’s next Bundesliga fixture against Mainz on Saturday, Hajou will be placed in charge of the team.

Darmstadt currently occupy 15th-place in the Bundesliga table with two wins, one draw, seven losses through ten-matchdays. The Lillies welcome relegation rivals FSV Mainz 05 – themselves riding high after securing their first win of the season – to the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor this coming weekend.

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