Gerhard Kapl | |
|---|---|
 Gerhard Kapl in May 2009 | |
| Born | (1946-11-11)11 November 1946 |
| Died | 25 July 2011(2011-07-25) (aged 64) |
| Alma mater | University of Graz |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
| Title | Vice-President of theAustrian Football Association |
| Term | 2004–2009 |
| Children | 3 |
Gerhard Kapl (11 November 1946, inWels – 25 July 2011, inGraz) was anAustrian state official,referee and footballofficial.[1]
Gerhard Kapl lost his father at an early age and grew up in poverty. Kapl completed thematura with distinction in 1965 at the High School of theSchlierbach Abbey and then studiedjurisprudence,business administration andpolitical science at theUniversity of Graz. He completed all three courses in 1970, 1974 and 1974, with doublemagister degree and doubledoctorate.[1]
After completing his studies, Kapl worked in the private sector. In 1977, he took a job in the state administration and completed his training year in theFeldbach District. In 1978 Kapl was entrusted with the construction, and later with the management, of a department for management of testing, inspection and complaints. In June 1994, he became head of accounting of thestate ofStyria. Kapl became Judge Advocate of the Styrian government in 1994, after he had already held the position of deputy from 1989 to 1993. Because of his success, Kapl received the professional title "Hofrat", the highest honor that can be given to a state official.
Kapl, who was considered a workaholic, began having health problems in 2009. During a critical heart operation, he received four bypasses. He died on 25 July 2011 following a diagnosed disease in autumn 2010.[1] Kapl, who wanted to retire in 2011, was married, had three children and three grandchildren.
In addition to his professional career Gerhard Kapl also had a successful career in football. At the age of 20, he passed the exam to become a football referee. Starting in 1980, he began refereeing games in the second division and three years later he referred games of theAustrian Football Bundesliga.On 30 September 1983, Kapl refereed the game ofSC Eisenstadt againstFC Linz, his first game in the highest Austrian league. Over the next ten seasons, he refereed 92 more games. On 28 November 1992, Kapl ended his career as a football referee with the game betweenSK Vorwärts Steyr and VfB Mödling (3:2) for reasons of age.[2]
On 1 January 1988, Kapl became a FIFA referee and participated in 40 international games. Highlights in his international referee career was refereeing theEuropean Cup game betweenOlympique de Marseille andAC Sparta Prague (3:2) on 23 October 1991 and the qualifier for theUEFA Euro 1992 betweenGreece andFinland (2:0) on 30 October 1991 at theOlympic Stadium inAthens.
Following his retirement as an active referee, Kapl started an even successful career as a football official. He became a member of the League Referees Committee in 1993.His international career as an official started in 1994 when he was employed as a delegate of theUEFA andFIFA for international matches.In 1997, Kapl was appointed Chairman of the Austrian Bundesliga Referees Committee.[3]
Thanks to his legal knowledge, Kapl was entrusted in 1998 with the office of Inspector General of UEFA and therefore acted as "Attorney General" and "chief prosecutor".[4] In this capacity, he was also actively working at theUEFA Euro 2004, the2006 FIFA World Cup, theUEFA Euro 2008 and most recently the2010 FIFA World Cup.
During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Kapl was responsible for the security in eleven games, including the opening match betweenGermany andCosta Rica (4:2) inMunich and the final inBerlin betweenItaly andFrance (1:1 after overtime, 5:3 in the penalty shootout).[5]
At the2010 FIFA World Cup inSouth Africa, he was responsible for the security of the games in theFNB Stadium inJohannesburg, and therefore responsible for the opening match betweenSouth Africa andMexico (1:1) and the final between theNetherlands andSpain (0:1 after overtime).[1] In addition to several cases ofdoping and other offenses, the most spectacular case that Kapl had to work was the "spitting affairs" ofFrancesco Totti andAlexander Frei (both during theUEFA Euro 2004).[1]
Kapl was disciplinary inspector and stadium expert for the UEFA. He put in nearly 600,000 air miles annually for the FIFA and UEFA.
In addition to these major events, other highlights of his official career were theUEFA Supercup final betweenReal Madrid C.F. andFeyenoordRotterdam (inMonaco), theUEFA Europa League semi-finals betweenAC Milan andBorussia Dortmund, theUEFA Champions League semi-finals betweenInter Milan andAC Milan, the UEFA Champions League semi-finals betweenAS Monaco andFC Chelsea, and the UEFA Champions League final betweenLiverpool FC and AC Milan (inIstanbul).
Overall Kapl was involved in more than 200 international matches as UEFA and FIFA delegate.[1] Where he was in use in all 53 member countries of the UEFA.
He was elected in 1999 in his home land, by a large majority, for the position of President of theStyria Football Association (German: Steirischer Fußball-Verband, StFV). Kapl was re-elected three times in office, most recently on 29 January 2011. In 2003, he was elected vice-president of theAustrian Football Association (German: Österreichischer Fußball-Bund, ÖFB), where he was responsible for the legal, EU and referee affairs as well as the ÖFB Constitution. In 2004 Kapl was also chairman of the Referees Committee of the ÖFB.
The football world was deeply affected by Kapls death. Both the UEFA and the FIFA praised Kapl's successful operation as football referee and especially as a football official.[4][6] FIFA presidentSepp Blatter praised Gerhard Kapl for "many ways of excellent services" in a personal letter.[7]
