Former Schalke and HSV boss will become Swiss football president

It has been known for some time that the current vice-president Sandro Stroppa is running for the post of Blanc’s successor on behalf of the amateur department. Now there is a prominent competitor for the highest office in Swiss football: long-time player and official Peter Knäbel is running for the SFV presidency on behalf of football’s professional chamber, the Swiss Football League. The Swiss Football League’s first preferred candidate, former FCB President Bernhard Heusler, decided against running after a long period of consideration.

Knäbel comes from the Ruhr area and, after his Bundesliga career as a player, came to Switzerland in the mid-1990s, where he then made a name for himself primarily as an expert and supporter in the youth sector. He headed the junior departments at Winterthur and FC Basel and was previously employed by the Swiss Football Association – from 2009 to 2014 as technical director. During this time, the U17 won the World Cup title, the U21 came second in the European Championships and qualified for the 2012 Olympics.

Knäbel was later responsible for sports at the traditional Bundesliga clubs Hamburger SV and Schalke 04. Since the end of 2023, Knäbel has lived with his wife in Solothurn and recently received his Swiss passport.

The election of the new SFV president will take place in May 2025. It is unlikely that other candidates will emerge alongside Stroppa and Knäbel. There used to be an unwritten law that the three chambers of Swiss football (amateur, first division, professionals) were allowed to occupy the executive committee. That hasn’t been true for almost 20 years. The amateur section has the most votes, almost half. This means: Knäbel has to promote himself far beyond the professional boundaries in order to have a chance at the SFV throne.