Franz Reindl named 15th IIHF president

German native Franz Reindl has been elected president of the IIHF, with his term running from 2026-30.

Reindl finished with 30.77 percent of the vote (36 votes) after the first round of voting at this week’s semi-annual congress. It was actually Petr Briza from Czechia that led the way with 41.03 percent of the vote, while Aivaz Omorkanov had 28.21 percent with three fewer votes than Reindl. With no applicant having at least 50 percent of the vote, Omorkanov was removed and a second round was held, with Reindl winning 51.28 percent of the vote.

The 71-year-old is now the 15th president of the IIHF, taking over for Luc Tardif. Reindl is also the first German representative to hold the position since Dr. Gunther Sabetzki, who held office from 1975-94.

Reindl played pro hockey in Germany throughout the 1970s and 80s, while also representing West Germany internationally. He most notable played in the 1984 Olympics, where he had six points in six games. After retiring, he’d go on to coach and manage Germany throughout the 1990s and 2000s before coming back as a team manager with Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He would later go on to become a IIHF council member, a job he has held for the past 10 years.

The IIHF also voted on the council, with Briza becoming senior vice-president. The full list of council members can be found below:

President: Franz Reindl (GER)
Senior Vice-President: Petr Briza (CZE)
Regional Vice-President–Americas and Oceania: Mike Trimboli (USA) 
Regional Vice-President–Asia: Susie Jo (KOR) 
Regional Vice-President–Europe & Africa: Igor Nemecek (SVK)
Others: Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer (HUN) and Merve Tunali (TUR), Heikki Hietanen (FIN) Aivaz Omorkanov (KGZ), Viesturs Koziols (LAT), Anders Larsson (SWE), Marta Zawadzka (POL), Sergey Goncharov (BLR), Stoian Batchvarov (BUL), and Andy Mills (NZL)

Notably, there will be no representation from the two top-ranked teams in IIHF men’s hockey competition: Switzerland and Canada.

The terms will begin