Hinteregger retires aged just 29 amid criticism over tournament arranged with far-right politician

Eintracht Frankfurt defender Martin Hinteregger has announced his retirement from football at the age of 29.

The Bundesliga side confirmed on Thursday that the Austria international expressed his desire to end his playing career.

Hinteregger had a year left on his contract with the German team but they have accepted his proposal to terminate his deal this summer.

Hinteregger's announcement was made just a month after he helped Frankfurt to success in the Europa League last season.

The centre-back stirred up some controversy recently when the town of his youth team, Sirnitz, hosted a competition organised by him and his former business partner Heinrich Sickl.

Sickl has connections to a far-right political party as a former member of an Austrian neo-Nazi organisation in the 1990s.

More recently, he rented premises to the controversial far-right Identitarian Movement Austria.

Hinteregger was criticised after the Hinti Cup and his connection to Sickl were revealed, but he took to Instagram to insist that he was not aware of his business partner's history.

"I have no knowledge of past or future activities on the part of the Sickl family — I just want a soccer tournament to take place and nothing more," he said.

"Any business relationship with the Sickl family will be terminated with immediate effect due to the current state of knowledge, and the event 'Hinti Cup' will be examined alternatively to clarify a further course of action."

The player explained his decision to the club's website and addressed the controversy surrounding the tournament.

He said: “Last autumn I’d already started to think about retiring at the end of the season. I was in a difficult period on the pitch: my performances were shaky.

"The wins didn’t