German Franz Reindl Elected International Ice Hockey Federation President

German official Franz Reindl was the winner of the International Ice Hockey Federation presidential vote, narrowly beating Petr Bříza as the successor of Luc Tardif. Early Friday morning, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced that its presidential vote was complete, with Franz Reindl winning by a close margin.Reindl, a German official, beat Petr Bříza 60-57 in a runoff vote on the Spanish island of Tenerife, according to AP News. Reindl was behind Bříza 48-36 in the first round but picked up crucial votes after Aivaz Omorkanov of Kyrgyzstan was eliminated.The 71-year-old Reindl is a former German hockey star, but never played in the NHL. Instead, he dominated the German league, posting 386 goals and 753 points in 608 games. Reindl is also an Olympic medalist, having played in three Olympics with Germany. In those 16 games, he posted two goals and seven points.Following his professional ice hockey career, Reindl entered the coaching sphere in 1988. He began as head coach of SC Riessersee in Germany's second division before joining the German national team staff as an assistant coach. After stepping away from the German team for six years, he returned as the GM in 2000, holding that role until 2012. In 2016, Reindl served as the GM for Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey. This was not Reindl's first time running for IIHF president, as in the last election, Reindl was the runner-up to Luc Tardif. Tardif stepped down as president, saying it was time for a younger leader, but Reindl is only two years younger than Tardif. Another tidbit to note is that the new IIHF council will not feature any Canadians. Hockey Canada CEO and president Katherine Henderson did not receive enough votes to join the board.The full IIHF Council, 2026-2030: 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).Remaining Council Members: Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer (HUN), 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).For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.