The 70-year-old announced that he was not going to run for office in a letter to the chairman of the election committee, Wolfgang Bartosch.
Leo Windtner will no longer stand for the presidential election at the Ordinary General Meeting of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) on October 17th. The Upper Austrian announced this on Friday at the request of the APA . He had also brought this to the attention of the Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Wolfgang Bartosch, in a letter. Accordingly, he would be happy to initiate the desired generation change in the ÖFB presidium with his retirement.
Windtner has been leading by far the largest sports association in the state since February 2009. In March, the Upper Austrian announced that he would be available for another four years. Obviously, he did not find the necessary support in the election committee, which is almost identical to the ÖFB Presidium, and therefore withdrew his candidacy for the office of ÖFB President for the period 2021-2025, especially as this was only subject to a broad one Support from the ÖFB presidium had taken place, as the 70-year-old explained.
Successes in tenure
During Windtner's tenure, the ÖFB men's selection made it to two European championships (2016, 2021). At the most recent EURO, the advance into the round of 16 was made for the first time, where the eventual champion Italy only ended up in overtime. Further highlights were the ÖFB women's EM semifinal participation in 2017, the first EM participation with the U21 two years ago and the successful qualification for the women's EM 2022.
In his last two months in office, he will continue the official business as usual until the Annual General Meeting and ensure an orderly handover, announced Windtner. The 71-year-old will still be part of the game at the World Cup qualifying away games in September against the Republic of Moldova and Israel and in October against Denmark and the Faroe Islands.
The groundbreaking infrastructure project – the construction of a training center and an ÖFB headquarters in Vienna-Aspern – should nevertheless be developed further quickly. The talks with the federal government and the city of Vienna regarding the financing are said to be well advanced.
It still seems to be an open question who will be Windtner's successor. The new President can, but does not have to come from the Presidium. The ball now rests with the election committee, which has to decide on one person by the time the general assembly takes place.
