Franz Reindl of Germany was elected the new president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on 2 October 2026, defeating Petr Bříza of Czechia in the second round.
At the congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on 2 October 2026, Franz Reindl of Germany was elected its new president. In the second round he received 60 votes, and the federation's vice-president at the time, Petr Bříza of Czechia, received 57.[1]
Course of the vote
Nine candidates originally stood for the post, but six of them withdrew before the vote. In the first round Bříza received 48 votes, Reindl 36 and Aivaz Omorkanov of Kyrgyzstan 33, and Omorkanov was eliminated. The outgoing president, Luc Tardif of France, did not run again. Reindl and Bříza had both already stood for the post five years earlier, when Tardif won.[1]
The new president
Reindl, who is 71, became the 15th president of the IIHF and the second German to lead world hockey, after Günther Sabetzki, who headed the federation from 1975 to 1994. He will hold the office for four years. As a player he won a bronze medal with the German national team at the 1976 Olympic Games in Innsbruck, from 1992 to 2014 he was general manager of the national team, and from 2014 to 2022 he headed the German federation.[1]
According to Deník.cz, the federation will deal with a possible return of Russia and Belarus to competitions, which many countries, including Czechia, oppose. Reindl said he wants to unite the hockey family again.[1]
Chronology
- — German Franz Reindl was elected head of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), beating the outgoing vice-president, Czech Petr Bříza, by three votes in the second round. Deník.cz
Sources
- Deník.cz — 2 October 2026