The election proposal provides for the incumbent President Karl Stoss to remain in office, with Roswitha Stadlober (Ski Austria), Sonja Spendelhofer (Athletics) and Thomas Reichenauer (Wrestling) listed as Vice Presidents.
According to the proposal, the board should consist of the members Prock, Gernot Leitner (volleyball), Martin Poiger (judo), Elke Romauch (tennis), Gabriela Jahn (gymnastics), Horst Nussbaumer (rowing), Gerald Martens (basketball) and Arno Pajek ( swimming) together. However, it is questionable whether the election proposal will receive a majority in the general meeting. 47 votes are up for grabs.
Vote on ÖOC election proposal
The extraordinary general meeting of the Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) will take place on July 3rd in Vienna and the election proposal of the election committee, which was last dismissed by the ÖOC, will be put to the vote. The election proposal provides for the incumbent Karl Stoss as President, with Roswitha Stadlober as Vice-President, as well as Sonja Spendelhofer and Thomas Reichenauer.
dispute should be ended
The extraordinary general meeting was convened by the professional associations for swimming, golf, gymnastics, basketball and wrestling and was a reaction to the dismissal of the election committee chaired by Peter McDonald (Sports Union) by the ÖOC, which no longer saw trust.
In the opinion of the three sports umbrella organizations ASKÖ, ASVÖ and Sportunion, this dismissal is not valid, which is why legal action was reserved. However, since the proposal – a new form of the original proposal – is now being put to the vote, legal banter seems to be off the table for the time being.
“Just let members vote”
“We just let the members vote, then we’ll see if it goes through or not,” said Prock, who supports Stoss as president “one hundred percent”. Herbert Houf, also a current member of the board, spoke in the APA interview of a “good decision by the board”. He explained that the primary goal must now be to calm down quickly and to be able to work undisturbed in the interest of sport and the athletes. The European Games in Poland, in which 170 Austrians will take part, will start next week.
“In our view, the easiest way is to present this election proposal to the Annual General Meeting. Depending on how that ends, we’ll see how it goes on,” said Houf. He is still of the opinion that the election proposal was not valid, but it makes no sense to continue exchanging legal positions that will be clarified at some point. “If the proposal is not chosen, a new election procedure must be set in motion, then the decision will not be made until September.” It is also conceivable for him that there could then be several proposals.
Prock criticizes trade associations
Prock, who still sees and thinks of himself as an athlete, doesn’t understand the current “quarrels”. Because for professional associations, all paths have always been paved at the Olympic Games, there are enough coaches and service people, it is enormous what is being done, and everything fits. “This is important to me as a professional association. And when I’m at the meetings and hear that the finances are more than right, then I say great, everything is going well. That’s why I don’t understand why five or six associations are now messing about with the sport like that.” He has been on the board for 14 years and has never been approached by a professional association that wanted to discuss something.
He is known as Markus Prock, whether he is on the ÖOC board or not. “I’m not going to the Olympics as president, but because I’m on the track with the radio. I don’t need that, but other names maybe.” He would make vice president if desired.