Big award for German ice hockey. Franz Reindl, President of the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB), was elected to the new IIHF Council (presidium) with 81 out of 96 votes at today's IIHF General Congress in Moscow (Russia).
The IIHF General Congress takes place every four years as part of the World Championship in the men's top division. All representatives of the IIHF member nations present elect the IIHF President and the IIHF Council for the next term of office. In Moscow, long-time IIHF President Rene Fasel was confirmed in his office for another four years. Vice Presidents Kalervo Kummola (Europe and Africa), Bob Nicholson (North and Central America) and Thomas Wu (Asia and Oceania) were also re-elected.
As the executive body of the IIHF, the IIHF Council consists of the president and three vice-presidents as well as the general secretary and the seven board members. Most recently, Dr. Beate Grupp (Geislingen), one of the first two women ever, was a council member from 2003 to 2012.
Now a German will be represented on the Council again for the next four years: Franz Reindl, who, in addition to his position as DEB-President is also CEO of the 2017 IIHF World Cup Organizing Committee and President of Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The fact that Reindl has the ideal qualifications for a seat on the council of the world association is seen not only by the participants in the congress, but also by DOSB President Alfons Hörmann, who emphasizes in his letter to the IIHF: “Franz Reindl's nomination has our greatest support. This is easy for Hörmann because “we are convinced of him because of his decades of outstanding support for ice hockey and his excellent work for this sport. In my opinion, he has all the prerequisites that will help ice hockey develop at all levels.”
Reindl played 181 international matches during his playing career and took part in nine World Cups and three Olympic Games. Reindl was part of the national team that won the bronze medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. As an assistant coach, he was with the German national team at a total of three World Cups and two Olympic tournaments, as well as head coach and general manager at the World Cup of Hockey in 2004.
Franz Reindl: "This is an outstanding award for German ice hockey and for me personally. I will put all my energy into the further development of our sport at national and international level."
Other members of the IIHF Council include Vladislav Tretiak (Russia), Luc Tardif (France), Henrik Bach Nielsen (Denmark), Sergej Goncharov (Belarus), Ron DeGregio (USA) and Petr Briza (Czech Republic).