Germany's Franz Reindl Elected New IIHF President
The leadership change places an Olympic medalist and former German federation head at the helm of global hockey administration.
The International Ice Hockey Federation elected German sports administrator Franz Reindl as its 15th president on Friday at its semi-annual congress in Tenerife, Spain. Reindl narrowly defeated Czech candidate Petr Briza by a 60-57 margin in a second-round runoff vote.
The election required two rounds after no candidate secured a majority in the opening ballot. Briza led the first round with 48 votes, followed by Reindl with 36 and Kyrgyzstan delegate Aivaz Omorkanov with 33. After Omorkanov dropped out, Reindl secured the required majority to take the presidency.
The 71-year-old succeeds Luc Tardif of France, who announced in March that he would step down after a single term to allow younger leadership. Tardif defeated Reindl in the federation's 2021 presidential election. Reindl is the first German to guide the global governing body since Gunther Sabetzki led the federation from 1975 to 1994.
Reindl spent decades inside the sport as an athlete, coach and executive. As a forward, he earned an Olympic bronze medal with West Germany at the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck. He later managed the German national team for over two decades and served as president of the German Ice Hockey Federation from 2014 to 2022. He has served on the IIHF Council since 2016.
Reindl takes over following an era marked by the return of NHL athletes to the Winter Olympics and the international suspension of Russian and Belarusian teams. Briza will assume the role of senior vice president on the new IIHF Council. The elected council members will officially serve their four-year terms through October 2030.
