Franz Reindl secured election as the new president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) during the federation’s congress in Tenerife, taking the leadership post after a tight second-round runoff, according to reporting from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Reindl succeeded in his second attempt after failing in the 2021 election. The 71-year-old German official succeeds the 73-year-old Frenchman Luc Tardif—who did not run again this year and had taken over the office five years ago after a victory in the decisive ballot against the former German national player by 67 to 39 votes—to become only the second German president in the history of the world governing body, following Günther Sabetzki’s tenure from 1975 to 1994.
Tight Runoff Secures Victory on Tenerife
Reindl's path to the IIHF presidency required managing a deeply divided congress on the Spanish island of Tenerife. In the initial ballot, former Czechoslovakia and Czech national goaltender Petr Bříza led the field with 48 votes, while Reindl gathered 36 votes out of an initial pool of nine candidates, six of whom withdrew before the vote. In the decisive runoff, Reindl edged past his competitors to claim victory with 60 votes to Bříza’s 57, as reported by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. DEB Vorstandsvorsitzender Frank Lutz praised the outcome as a major recognition of Reindl’s decades-long contributions to the sport—noting that Franz Reindl has shaped German ice hockey for decades as a player and especially in his various important functions for the federation, while also looking forward to the collaboration with a view to the upcoming events including the 2027 World Championship hosted in Germany. Reindl followed the tradition of his predecessor and wanted to start working right on Friday.
Stakes and Immediate 100-Day Priorities in Zurich
Reindl moved immediately to tackle an extensive agenda following his Friday election, outlining a demanding 100-day schedule aimed at restructuring the IIHF headquarters in Zurich, resolving a disputed equipment supplier contract, and finalizing the World Cup of Hockey agreement with the National Hockey League (NHL). Alongside these administrative tasks, the new president faces the challenge of shaping a strategic roadmap for the Winter Olympic Games from 2030 through 2038, while managing commercial revenues dependent on annual world championships and NHL participation.
The Pressing Question of Russia’s International Suspension
Among the most complex challenges facing the new administration is the ongoing suspension of Russian ice hockey teams, barred from international competition since 2022 following the country’s military invasion of Ukraine. Former president René Fasel, actually Swiss, but a self-avowed friend of Putin and now a Russian citizen, is said to have collected those votes. The potential return of the Sbornaja remains a friction point, with the NHL and commercial stakeholders eyeing a Russia inclusion for the February 2028 World Cup against strong resistance from European member federations.
Shifts in Council Influence and Competence
The Tenerife congress also produced significant changes within the IIHF Council, where Russia lost direct representation for the first time in decades after candidate Dmitry Kurbatov failed to win a seat. Longstanding hockey powers Switzerland and Canada also lost their representation slots following strategic missteps by delegates—with the Swiss running the internationally poorly networked Peter Zahner, and Canada presenting Katherine Henderson, who is said to have delivered a weak performance, alongside the general resentment of many in the IIHF toward the sport’s mother country whose federation has torpedoed the new equipment supplier contract with the company True Hockey because Canada’s team itself wants to continue selling jerseys made by the company Bauer (though the Canadians recently lost before a Swiss court, they want to appeal)—opening council positions to nations with developing hockey programs including South Korea, Turkey, Bulgaria, and New Zealand. Industry observers cited by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted that the resulting council possesses reduced specialized expertise, complicating negotiations with major partners like the NHL, the International Olympic Committee, and marketing agency Infront.
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