ZURICH (AP) — German official Franz Reindl has been elected president of the International Ice Hockey Federation by just three votes after incumbent Luc Tardif chose not to run.

Reindl beat Petr Bříza 60-57 in a runoff vote on the Spanish island of Tenerife between two former players who both won Olympic medals on the ice.

Reindl had been behind Bříza 48-36 in the first round but picked up crucial votes after Aivaz Omorkanov of Kyrgyzstan was eliminated.

Reindl was a forward on the West Germany team which beat the United States and Finland to the bronze medal in 1976, while Bříza was a goaltender when Czechoslovakia won bronze in 1992.

Reindl becomes IIHF president five years after he was runner-up to Tardif. He's worked closely with the NHL in the past and was president of Team Europe for the NHL-run World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

Tardif’s tenure was dominated by the NHL’s return to Olympic hockey for the Milan Cortina Games this year and the IIHF’s exclusion of Russian teams after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Tardif announced he wouldn't run again in March, saying it was time for a younger leader. At 71, Reindl is only two years younger than his French predecessor.

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