Peter Knäbel is running for the presidency

With Knäbel, the SFL nominated a prominent and certainly valid candidate for the SFV executive board, which will be filled in May 2025. In choosing the 58-year-old, the league would see the opportunity to “further advance the development and professionalization of Swiss football, represent the interests of all clubs, strengthen the development of young talent as an essential part of this development and strengthen cooperation between the different levels of Swiss football to intensify”.

The Swiss-German dual citizen Knäbel, who lives in Solothurn, brings experience at all levels of football. Knäbel ended his professional career in Germany and Switzerland in 1999 when FC Winterthur was promoted to the then NLB as player-coach. As an official, he worked, among other things, as technical director of the SFV from 2009 to 2014. In October 2014, Knäbel took over the position of director of professional football at Hamburger SV. In 2018 he moved to Schalke 04, where he was a member of the board.

Last May, the regional associations had already proposed Sandro Stroppa as presidential candidate. The 54-year-old from Effretikon is the president of the SFV amateur league. With Blanc and previously Peter Gilliéron (2009 to 2019), the last two SFV presidents also came from the amateur camp.