Cancellation is in the air

Agreement or departure? ÖFB showdown on Friday

Klaus Mitterdorfer (left) and Ralf Rangnick recently aired their differences in public.

(Bild: GEPA, krone.at-mrgrafik)

Rarely before has a meeting of the top officials of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) been as eagerly awaited as the one on Friday in Vienna. "Personnel matters" is the only item on the agenda for the extraordinary presidium meeting, which was scheduled at short notice by association boss Klaus Mitterdorfer. The Carinthian wants to install Silvia Kaupa-Götzl as CEO - if he fails, his term of office would probably be over after a year and a half.

The former Postbus board member Kaupa-Götzl will report on her plans at the ÖFB to the gentlemen present and canvass for at least the seven votes required. A total of 13 votes are up for grabs - nine from the respective regional heads, three from the Bundesliga and one from Mitterdorfer himself. According to APA information, a majority for Kaupa-Götzl seems extremely uncertain.

Silvia Kaupa-Götzl

(Bild: ÖBB/Marek Knopp)

Apart from the traditional opposition from Upper Austria - regional head Gerhard Götschhofer will be joining in from Australia via video - and Tyrol, it is also more than questionable whether Kaupa-Götzl will receive approval from Salzburg and Burgenland. The Bundesliga could vote against Kaupa-Götzl because the post was not advertised. In this case, it is highly unlikely that Kaupa-Götzl would receive a majority. As the picture of these voting relationships became increasingly clear over the course of Thursday, even a short-term cancellation of the extraordinary presidium meeting and Mitterdorfer's premature departure no longer seemed entirely out of the question.

Headwind from Rangnick and the team
The 59-year-old took up his honorary position on July 8, 2023, before which Lower Austria's regional head Johann Gartner had acted as head of the association for a few months following the resignation of Gerhard Milletich. Under Mitterdorfer, the ÖFB training center in Vienna-Aspern was finally finalized and the men's A team soared to many heights during his reign. Now the national team and its team manager Ralf Rangnick could play a major role in Mitterdorfer's possible replacement.

Like his predecessors, the ÖFB president was unable to get the conflict between ÖFB general secretary Thomas Hollerer and managing director Bernhard Neuhold under control, so he decided to remove both from office. On October 18, Mitterdorfer was given the authority by the presidium to terminate the employment of Hollerer and Neuhold.

Bernhard Neuhold

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

According to APA information, an offer of amicable separation was made to both, which was not accepted, whereupon the dismissals were put into effect. However, the threat of Neuhold's departure has caused Rangnick and the team players to rise to the barricades, increasing the pressure on Mitterdorfer massively with their statements in recent days. Rangnick, for example, spoke of "no relationship at all" with the president. Further long-term cooperation between the two is likely to be difficult or even impossible, and Rangnick has the upper hand as he has the backing of large sections of the public.

Reform would also be off the table
If Mitterdorfer were to leave, the planned structural reform with a CEO, two subordinate managing directors and a transfer of certain responsibilities from the executive committee to full-time employees would also be off the table, at least for the time being. The aim would then be to ensure that the ÖFB remains capable of acting until the next general assembly, which is currently scheduled for May 18, 2025 in Bregenz. Therefore, interim leadership by current members of the Executive Committee would be the obvious choice.

The cards will then be reshuffled for the election next May. A new internal solution cannot be ruled out, although Roland Schmid is also likely to have ambitions to become ÖFB boss. The entrepreneur has already narrowly failed in his bids to become Rapid president (2019) and ÖFB president (2021), and his relationship with Rangnick is considered excellent. Schmid would be the first association boss since Friedrich Stickler (2002 - 2008) not to move up from the presidium.