Power Struggle at ÖFB: Schöttel's Tenure Ends

A nine-year chapter at the Austrian Football Association looks set to close on Friday, and not on friendly terms.

According to Austrian outlets Kurier and Krone, the supervisory body will meet at the end of the week to decide the fate of sporting director Peter Schöttel. Behind the looming departure lies a rift with head coach Ralf Rangnick that insiders now describe as beyond repair.

The ÖFB has already pushed Schöttel to the sidelines. In sporting matters, his influence has faded, and with it the working relationship between two of the most important figures in Austrian football.

Former international Marc Janko, now a pundit with Sky, did little to disguise the tension. Asked about the situation, he said the current developments should not come as a shock to anyone paying attention: “If you ask around behind the scenes, then it is not hugely surprising.”

A Partnership That Stopped Working

The fracture has not appeared overnight. For some time, the connection between the sporting director and the German coach has been considered broken.

“With Schöttel and Ralf Rangnick, it did not really work properly,” Janko explained. The key line came next. Rangnick, he said, has long since stopped routing important decisions through Schöttel: “It is indeed the case that for some time Rangnick, in all the matters that are important to him, has not been doing that via Peter, but via other people.”

Once that dynamic sets in, there is usually only one outcome. And it rarely favours the sporting director.

End of a Successful Era

If Friday brings the expected decision, it will close a remarkably successful period for Austria.

Schöttel, now 59, joined the federation in 2017 as U19 coach. Just two months later, he was promoted to overall sporting director. From that point, the national team began to collect milestones.

Austria qualified for back-to-back European Championships and reached the last 16 at both Euro 2021 and Euro 2024. The high point came last summer, when the ÖFB celebrated its first World Cup finals appearance in 28 years. Austria advanced to the round of 32 before bowing out against eventual world champions Spain.

On paper, the record is strong. On the inside, the power axis has shifted.

The Favourite to Take Over

The ÖFB has not yet announced a successor, but the next man in line is already being talked about.

Krone reports that Sebastian Prödl has emerged as the internal favourite. The former Werder Bremen defender, a long-time Bundesliga professional, has headed the ÖFB’s youth department since 2024 and built a solid reputation within the association.

His biggest asset is not on his CV, though. It is his relationship with Ralf Rangnick.

Where the bond with Schöttel has collapsed, Prödl is seen as closely aligned with the national coach. At a time when sporting structures are being reshaped around Rangnick’s ideas, that could prove decisive.

If the supervisory body confirms Schöttel’s departure on Friday, the question will not just be who replaces him, but how far Austria is willing to go in building its future around one man’s vision.