ÖFB reform: Four regional leagues bring new wind to the football underground house!

ÖFB reform: Four regional leagues bring new wind to the football underground house!

Bregenz, Österreich - On March 28, 2025, the Presidium of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) decided to reform the third performance level in Austrian football during a meeting. From the 2026/27 season, four regional leagues are to be established in the future, which means a change to the currently existing three leagues. This project was adopted with a vote of 5 votes, 2 votes against it and 6 abstentions. However, the legal examination of the abstentions is still pending.

The new structure of the regional leagues provides for an unchanged regional league east for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland. The West region, which includes Vorarlberg and Tyrol, as well as the Mitte-West region, which summarizes Upper Austria and Salzburg. The new region south is made up of Styria and Carinthia. The aim of the reform is a more efficient handling of the game operation and a clearer regional division in order to meet the requirements of the clubs and to reduce travel expenses.

discussion and disagreement

The decision of the ÖFB Presidium comes after long discussions about the future design of the third division in Austria, especially in the western federal states. While Salzburg and Tyrol have spoken out for the maintenance of the Regionalliga West, many federal states support the reform. This is reflected in the results of the vote, because a total of seven federal states voted for the reform, as Salzburg24

Legal uncertainty remains an issue, since the six abstentions could possibly be considered counter -votes, which would change the voting result to 5: 8. This underlines the strongly divergent opinions among the representatives of the clubs about the reform, which has been an issue for decades.

planned implementation and challenges

The regional reformation will come into force from the 2026/27 season, which means that Salzburg and Upper Austria are expected to form a common league. While the current third division clubs in Salzburg voted against the merger with Upper Austria, the majority of the clubs in Upper Austria affirmed a 16-person league with eight teams each. The coming months will be decisive to clarify the legal aspects and to find an agreement between the individual federal states.

The next meeting of the ÖFB Presidium will take place on April 9, 2025. In addition, the ordinary general meeting of the ÖFB is planned in Bregenz on May 18, 2025. The members of the ÖFB and officials are faced with the challenge of finding a solution that takes all interests into account as possible and strengthens Austrian football sustainably. Further discussions about suitable formats and promotion regulations are necessary to create a sustainable basis for the reform.