Power Struggle at the ÖFB: Schöttel's Tenure Nears Its End

The fault lines inside Austrian football’s power structure are no longer hidden. They are right on the surface now, and on Friday they are expected to crack.

According to Austrian outlets Kurier and Krone, the supervisory board of the ÖFB will meet at the end of the week to decide on the future of sporting director Peter Schöttel. After nine years in the federation, his departure now looks less like a possibility and more like the logical conclusion of a relationship that has broken down at the very top.

At the heart of it all: an irreparable rift with national team coach Ralf Rangnick.

A Relationship Beyond Repair

For months, whispers have circled around the ÖFB corridors. Now they are being spoken out loud.

The federation has already sidelined Schöttel internally, a clear signal that the trust between him and Rangnick has evaporated. The two most influential figures in Austria’s sporting set-up no longer pull in the same direction; they barely pull together at all.

Marc Janko, former international striker and now a pundit for Sky, did little to soften the picture. He hinted that the current turmoil has been brewing for some time.

“If you ask around behind the scenes, then it is not hugely surprising,” he said of the unfolding situation.

Janko described a working relationship that effectively stopped functioning.

With Schöttel “and Ralf Rangnick, it did not really work properly,” he explained. Rangnick, he added, had long since stopped channelling key decisions through the sporting director. “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.”

In a federation built on clear hierarchies and defined responsibilities, that is more than a minor disagreement. It is a parallel power structure.

The End of a Successful Chapter

If Friday brings the expected decision, it will close a chapter that has been, by almost any sporting measure, one of the most successful in recent ÖFB history.

Schöttel, now 59, joined the federation in 2017. He arrived as U19 coach, but his rise was rapid; within two months he had been promoted to overall sporting director. From that point on, he became one of the key architects of Austria’s modern national team.

Results followed.

Austria qualified for the European Championship in back-to-back cycles, reaching the last 16 at both Euro 2021 and Euro 2024. For a nation that has often hovered on the fringes of major tournaments, that consistency represented a tangible step forward.

The high point came last summer. Under Schöttel’s sporting leadership, Austria reached a World Cup finals for the first time in 28 years. The team’s run ended in the round of 32 against eventual world champions Spain, but the symbolic value of simply being there was enormous. It marked Austria’s return to the global stage.

Now that same era is being pushed towards the exit because the internal chemistry at the top has turned toxic.

Prödl Waiting in the Wings

Football rarely leaves a vacuum for long. While the ÖFB has not yet made any official announcement on a successor, Krone reports that an internal favourite is already emerging: Sebastian Prödl.

The former Werder Bremen defender has been leading the ÖFB’s youth department since 2024. Inside the federation, his work is said to be highly regarded, and his profile fits the modern template: international experience as a player, a clear understanding of the association’s structures, and a direct line into the next generation of talent.

But one factor stands above the rest.

Prödl is believed to enjoy an “exceptionally good” relationship with Rangnick. In the current climate, that may be the decisive quality. After months of internal friction, the ÖFB appears determined to realign the sporting hierarchy around a coach who has both strong results and strong influence.

If the supervisory board confirms Schöttel’s departure on Friday, it will not just be a change of personnel. It will be a clear statement about where power lies in Austrian football — and about who Ralf Rangnick wants at his side as Austria plot their next steps on the international stage.