'I quit football at 22 to follow Jesus Christ - I refuse to play on Saturdays'

Switzerland under-21s international Silvan Wallner has retired from football at the age of 22 due to his Christian beliefs. The centre-back had been plying his trade for Blau-Weiss Linz in the Austrian Bundesliga but will now observe a rest day on Saturdays instead of competing on the football pitch.

Wallner progressed through the Zurich academy in his homeland before securing a move to Linz in September.

But he announced his decision to hang up his boots after featuring in five Bundesliga matches.

Wallner is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Protestant Christian denomination. Whereas most denominations observe a Sunday rest, Seventh-day Adventist Church members are prohibited from working on Saturdays.

And Wallner explained: "I am a devout Christian and I read the Bible. I make my own decisions about my life. I wish to follow Jesus Christ and, as a result, the biblical day of rest has become important to me.

"As a footballer this means that I no longer want to play professionally on Saturdays. This is my personal conviction, which I have reached in the last few days.

"I want to thank with all my heart all the officials, staff and players at Blau-Weiss Linz. I also say a big thank you to all the people who have accompanied and supported me in my sporting career."

Wallner, who won the Swiss league title two years ago, made a total of 51 appearances for Zurich and featured in four Europa Conference League qualifiers at the beginning of the season ahead of his move to Austria.

The player also represented Switzerland at various age group levels and featured for the under-21s on three occasions.

His final appearance for the under-21s came in a 2-1 defeat to Albania in September when he played 88 minutes before being subbed off. He was an unused substitute as the team lost 3-1 to Romania last month.

Wallner's retirement has taken plenty of people by surprise. And commenting on the decision, his former sporting director at Zurich Milos Malenovic told : "I was very surprised that he wanted to end his career. I absolutely didn't expect that from such a young player. He always seemed very stable to me.

"We didn't notice anything, not even the whole environment at FC Zurich. It was never an issue. We didn't know anything about it. I think he communicated this to his Austrian club for the first time three weeks ago.

"There are situations in life where it leads to this. Sometimes it's a bit questionable for me, but I have to respect that like everyone else. It's his way and he was very courageous with this decision. You can also see that as a positive, but I think it's a bit of a shame."