Gerhard Kapl

Gerhard Kapl (11 November 1946, in Wels – 25 July 2011, in Graz) was an Austrian state official, referee and football official.

Life Gerhard Kapl lost his father at an early age and grew up in poverty. Kapl completed the matura with distinction in 1965 at the High School of the Schlierbach Abbey and then studied jurisprudence, business administration and political science at the University of Graz. He completed all three courses in 1970, 1974 and 1974, with double magister degree and double doctorate.

On 1 January 1988, Kapl became a FIFA referee and participated in 40 international games. Highlights in his international referee career was refereeing the European Cup game between Olympique de Marseille and AC Sparta Prague (3:2) on 23 October 1991 and the qualifier for the UEFA Euro 1992 between Greece and Finland (2:0) on 30 October 1991 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.

Football official 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 the UEFA and FIFA for international matches. In 1997, Kapl was appointed Chairman of the Austrian Bundesliga Referees Committee.

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". In this capacity, he was also actively working at the UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Euro 2008 and most recently the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Kapl was responsible for the security in eleven games, including the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica (4:2) in Munich and the final in Berlin between Italy and France (1:1 after overtime, 5:3 in the penalty shootout).

At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, he was responsible for the security of the games in the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, and therefore responsible for the opening match between South Africa and Mexico (1:1) and the final between the Netherlands and Spain (0:1 after overtime). FIFA president Sepp Blatter praised Gerhard Kapl for "many ways of excellent services" in a personal letter.

Awards Silver Medal of the ÖFB for referees (June 2, 1989) Golden Medal of Honor of the ÖFB for referees (June 3, 1992) Golden Badge of Honor of the Styrian Football Association (March 15, 1986) Golden Medal of Honor of the Styrian Football Association (February 5, 1995) Sports Medal for special merits in Gold of the Province of Styria (3 December 2001) Grand Decoration of Styria (14 to December 2004) Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (11 September 2010)