Swiss football player retires at 22 due to religious beliefs

Silvan Wallner, 22-year-old Swiss football player that played for lau-Weiß Linz in Austrian league and was being seen as a young promise for International Swiss squad, had decided to retire from professional football due to the difficulty of balancing his professional life with his faith.

Wallner is rumoured to member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an Adventist Protestant religious group that observes Saturday as a rest day. However, the player denied that he was part of a church. "I am a devout Christian and read the Bible. I make the decisions for my life myself."

Saturday is the seventh day of the week in the Gregorian and Hebrew calendar, and according to this religious group, it must be devoted to rest and worship. Working is prohibited, so for a professional football player, that would prevent him of attending several matches and trainings.

After rumours started circulating, a statement was sent by his former club, which he started thanking the club and his supporters. "I want to follow Jesus Christ and the biblical day of rest has become important to me. For me as a professional, this means that from now on I do not want to play football for a living on Saturdays" Waller said.