Ex-ÖFB President Leo Windtner Passed Away

The former president of the ÖFB, Leo Windtner, died on Friday morning while hiking on the Naturfreundesteig at Traunstein. This was confirmed to the APA by Stefan Oberkalmsteiner, the head of the Gmunden mountain rescue team.

Former ÖFB President Leo Windtner died while hiking

According to information from the mountain rescue team, they were alerted at 7:50 AM, and the rescue chain was set in motion. 15 mountain rescuers were deployed, three of whom ascended to the site of the incident at around 800 meters above sea level. However, the rescuers could do nothing more for the 74-year-old. Windtner was flown off the mountain by emergency medical helicopter. The emergency doctor attempted to resuscitate him, but unsuccessfully. Windtner was ÖFB President from February 28, 2009, to October 17, 2021, and also served as the CEO of Energie AG Oberösterreich for 22 years. During Windtner's tenure at the ÖFB, the appointment of Marcel Koller as team manager and the first qualification for Euro 2016 took place.

Josef Pröll: "Led ÖFB with much heart and understanding"

The ÖFB mourns its honorary president. With him, domestic football loses not only a long-standing top official but above all a personality who shaped Austrian football with tireless dedication, strategic foresight, and human warmth, as stated in a release. ÖFB Supervisory Board Chairman Josef Pröll praised the deceased as a president who "was close to the people and understood sport as a unifying force." "Leo Windtner led the ÖFB and Austrian football for many years with much heart and understanding," Pröll continued. Under Windtner's leadership, there were also sporting highlights such as the women's national team's entry into the European Championship semi-finals (2017) or the men's EURO round of 16 in 2020. Windtner remained connected to football even after his retirement in autumn 2021, and he was last present at the topping-out ceremony of the ÖFB Campus this past March.

Kogler, Hacker also honor contributions to Aspern

Former Sports Minister Werner Kogler (Greens), who, together with Windtner, set the course for the new ÖFB training center, also commented. "I experienced him as an upright sports official with handshake quality and much foresight. Together, we succeeded in launching the groundbreaking ÖFB training center Aspern project. It's a shame that he will not be able to witness the opening in a few months," wrote the deputy chairman of the Greens on X. Similar sentiments were expressed by Vienna's City Councilor for Sports, Peter Hacker (SPÖ): "Leo Windtner was a fighter for the further development of Austrian football. Without him, the realization of the ÖFB Campus in Vienna would not have been possible."

(APA/Red)

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