Tardif's change: will the new head of the IIHF help return Russia to the international ice

Franz Reindl has been elected President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The 71-year-old German replaced Frenchman Luc Tardif in this post. An experienced functionary was able to outrun the favorite of the election race from the Czech Republic. The term of office of the new head is calculated until October 2030. Unfortunately, Dmitry Kurbatov, the Russian representative, did not receive a seat on the IIHF council.

Beat the favorite in the second round

The IIHF presidential elections were held on October 2 as part of the federation's semi-annual congress. It took two rounds to determine the winner: in the first, Czech functionary Petr Brziza received 48 votes (41.03%), Reindl — 36 (30.77%), and Kyrgyz representative Aivaz Omorkanov - 33 (28.21%). Since none of the candidates broke the 50% mark, a second round between the two leaders was needed. Reindl received 60 votes (51.28%), Brziza — 57 (48.72%).

According to media reports working at the congress, most of the delegates who chose Omorkanov in the first round then sided with the German. In addition, the federations from the second and third divisions of the World Cup, as well as Sweden, Russia and Belarus, supported Reindle.

The German will replace the Frenchman Luc Tardif as president. He has been the head of the federation since 2021, but announced in the spring that he would not participate in new elections. It was under Tardif that the Russian and Belarusian teams were banned from the IIHF tournaments in 2022. Our national team has already missed five World Championships since then.

Who replaced Tardif

Franz Reindl is a legend of German hockey and an experienced functionary. As a player, he played for the German national team at eight world championships and three Olympic Games — he won the bronze medal at the 1976 Games in Innsbruck.

After finishing his playing career in 1988, Reindl worked as a coach in the German league, and from 1992 to 2014 he served as the general manager of the national team. He was also one of the leaders in the creation of the German Hockey League and served as its CEO in 1994-1996.

In addition, he participated in the organization of three World Championships in Germany — in 2001, 2010 and 2017. In 2014, Franz became president of the German Ice Hockey Federation and held this post for eight years. Since 2016, he has been a member of the IIHF Council and has chaired several federation committees in recent years.

In 2021, the German has already run for president of the IIHF. Back then, he spoke sympathetically about Russia and Russian hockey leaders, including Vladislav Tretyak and Roman Rotenberg.

"I can say from the bottom of my heart that I love Russia as a hockey country," Reindl said in an interview with Sport-Express. — When I was playing, I knew all the hockey players of the Russian national team. But unfortunately, only from the back, because they were too fast. Back then, the Russian national team was an incredible hero for all of us. I love Russia because it's a hockey country. I like the way they develop young players here.

After 2022, Reindl supported sanctions against Russia and Belarus, but at the same time continued to speak respectfully about Russian hockey players. For example, he called Alexander Ovechkin "one of the best athletes in the world" after the Washington captain reached the 800-goal mark in the NHL.

"Franz Reindl is a man with vast hockey experience, both playing and managing," Vladislav Tretyak, head of the Russian Hockey Federation, told Izvestia. — He was a high-level athlete, won a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics with his national team, headed the German Hockey Federation and worked on the IIHF Council for 10 years. Congratulations to the new President of the international federation on his election victory. We wish him good luck. We hope for fruitful cooperation and that Reindl and his management team will treat all hockey countries objectively and impartially.

Kurbatov was not elected to the IIHF Council

There is also an alarming election result. There will be no representative of Russia in the new composition of the IIHF Council. In the previous composition, designed for 2021-2026, Pavel Bure was a member of the governing body. Now our functionaries are not on the list: Dmitry Kurbatov, General Director of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, did not receive a place. However, there are no representatives of Canada in it either.

For the 2026-2030 cycle, the IIHF leadership includes Senior Vice President Petr Brziza (Czech Republic), as well as regional Vice Presidents Mike Trimboli (USA), Suzy Joe (South Korea) and Igor Nemechek (Slovakia).

Sergey Goncharov (Belarus), Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer (Hungary), Merve Tunali (Turkey), Heikki Hietanen (Finland), Aivaz Omorkanov (Kyrgyzstan), Viesturs Koziols (Latvia), Anders Larsson (Sweden), Marta Zavadzka (Poland), Stoyan Bachvarov (Bulgaria) and Andy Mills (New Zealand).