Gustav Wiederkehr

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Gustav Wiederkehr (1962)

Gustav Max Wiederkehr (born October 2, 1905 in Zurich ; † July 7, 1972 there ) was a Swiss entrepreneur and football official . He was President of the Swiss Football Association (SFV) from 1954 to 1964, and President of the European Football Association UEFA from 1962 until his death .

Life

Wiederkehr went to school in Zurich and became an authorized signatory at the age of 21 . In 1932 he started his own business and founded a carpet factory in Buchs SG . By 1937, he made up his Matura in his spare time . The subsequent study of economics at the University of Bern , he had in 1939 interrupted because he after the start of World War II in the active service was drafted; finally he broke it off completely. He later expanded his business activities in the carpet industry: in 1954 he co-founded the Remstaler carpet factory in Plüderhausen ( Baden-Württemberg ), and in 1969 co-founded the Alpina carpet factory in Wetzikon .

His work as a sports official began in 1931 with the establishment of the Catholic Men's Gymnastics Club in Zurich. In 1936, Wiederkehr became president of the Zurich Young Fellows football club , a position he held until 1949. He led the club, which was professionalized in 1931, back to amateurism. YF had the largest youth division during the war and had the most teams in the championship. He campaigned for the further training and advancement of his players in the profession, as, for example, the national players Walter Eich and Wädi Fink found out .

In 1943 he created the National League B, the second highest division in the country, in 1946 he was elected to the committee of the SFV. Finally, in 1954, he was elected President of the SFV; he held this office until 1964.

On April 17, 1962, Wiederkehr, who was considered a brilliant speaker, was elected President of UEFA in Sofia . Under his leadership, the association's importance grew significantly. In 1963 a technical commission was introduced, in 1968 an arbitration commission. Two new competitions also emerged, the UEFA Cup in 1971 and the European Under-23 Championship in 1972 . In addition, from 1971, Wiederkehr was also vice-president of the world football association FIFA . He died unexpectedly at work at the age of 66.

literature

  • Biographical lexicon of deceased Swiss people , vol. 7th 1975

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 4th column, below: "Return dead" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna July 9, 1972, p. 15 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
personal data
SURNAME Return, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Return, Gustav Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss football official
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH July 7, 1972
Place of death Zurich