Hummels withdraws: A life without professional football begins!

Hummels withdraws: A life without professional football begins!

Olympiastadion, Turin, Italien - Mats Hummels, the former international and defense star, ended his professional career in football a few days ago. The farewell took place in the Olympic Stadium in Turin, where Hummels was thrown up by his teammates and was enthusiastically applauded by numerous fans. The 34-year-old was happy with DAZN, but also sad and full of emotions about the end of his active career.

Hummels, who was substituted for AS Rome in the 90th minute in the last game, proudly expressed his contribution to the team and described the end of the season as "best possible". AS Rome won the game against FC Turin 2-0, but missed moving into the Champions League. Hummels, who only played at AS Rome since September 2024, describes the time in Italy as his first and last wanderlike.

a new phase of life

After the end of his active career, Hummels plans to take a quick return to professional football. Instead, he decided to take a break in the next one to two years. Hummels now wants to make his own decisions before returning to everyday football. In the coming season, however, he will be active as a TV expert for Amazon Prime Video at Champions League games, which will offer him a new perspective in sports.

With this phase of life, Hummels realizes that it could become a "huge problem" for him to get used to a life without professional sport. The Roman daily newspaper "Il Messaggero" described him as "champion that came to Rome too late". The long -time professional reflects on his career and describes the resignation as still unreal, comparable to the start of a summer break.

The pressure in competitive sports

Hummels' career experiences reflect a common topic in professional sports: competitive athletes are often exposed to enormous pressure that can not only be sporty, but also psychologically stressful. A study shows that up to 640 stressors can burden athletes during their career. These stressors often contribute to psychological problems that continue to exist even after the end of the career. Athletes who involuntarily leave are particularly at risk.

The study situation shows that mental stress such as sleep disorders, anxiety and depressive disorders and alcohol abuse are common among former athletes. The loss of sporting identity and the usual structure after leaving performance is a challenge that is often not adequately processed. Experts advocate early discussion of the career closing and comprehensive psychosocial care.

Overall, Hummel's resignation is viewed not only as the end of a career, but as the beginning of a new chapter in which he is aware of the need to gain distance from professional football in order to concentrate on personal decisions.

For further information that shed light on his thoughts about the career closing, see Tagesspiegel , ZDF and Sportmedizin .