Accordingly, the Burgenlander, managing director of Bohmann Verlag, made representations to at least seven partners and sponsors of the ÖFB. According to “Kurier” information, Milletich, who has been head of the ÖFB since October 2021, would have advertised in the course of presentation rounds with sponsors of the association for insertions in his own magazines. He finds the behavior “strange”, the newspaper quoted the representative of an ÖFB partner. “To me, that represents exploitation of the presidency.”
In a letter to his ÖFB presidium colleagues, which the newspaper reported, Milletich rejected the allegations. The 66-year-old, who had already encountered resistance from some regional associations when he was nominated to be head of the association, identified another attempt to “deliberately put his person in an unfavorable light”. He has had business relationships with some of the companies mentioned for decades.
“My job, selling ads”
According to “News”, the June issue of the “schau” magazine published by Milletich contained advertisements from four key ÖFB sponsors “including soft feel-good interviews with the advertising sponsor representatives”. Bohmann Verlag has annual sales in the tens of millions, primarily with print products. “It’s my job to sell ads,” Milletich told the “Kurier”. “Whether they are partners of the ÖFB or not is irrelevant to me.”
In September 2021, Milletich prevailed in a contested vote in the ÖFB election committee for the office of ÖFB President against the entrepreneur Roland Schmid in the second ballot and was thus elected by the Ordinary Federal General Assembly of the ÖFB in October with 11:2 votes for four years elected President. The 66-year-old succeeds Leo Windtner, who previously held the post for twelve years.
Discord at election and inauguration
Neither the election nor the assumption of office by Milletich went off without background noise. The state association presidents from Salzburg and Tyrol, Herbert Hübel and Josef Geisler, who had previously supported Schmid, publicly expressed doubts about Milletich in the “Salzburger Nachrichten” and the “Tiroler Tageszeitung”. The main point is that the entrepreneur, as Parndorf chairman, had not registered the then coach Andreas Heraf with the club in 2007, but with his publisher.
At the time, Milletich said in a statement to the APA: “It was a completely normal employment relationship in the publishing house, everything was correct and legal. Heraf was released for the club, which was nothing more than a sponsorship contribution from the publishing house for the club.” Milletich emphasized that he was not guilty of anything.
