Football legend Toni Polster’s official goal collection with the Austrian national team includes 44 goals. Three too few, he and his two lawyers think. The goals from three team matches in 1884, 1987 and 1988 do not appear on the balance sheet. According to the ÖFB, they fell into “unofficial meetings”. ‘Toni Doppelpack’ is now taking legal action: ‘My achievements must also be recognized.’
“I would rather play tennis or walk my dog. But now we started it, now we will continue it,” Austrian football legend Toni Polster said at the regional civil law court in Vienna on Friday. The 60-year-old appears there as a plaintiff. “Toni Doppelpack”, who holds several records at home and abroad, is fighting for recognition of three international goals he scored with the Austrian national team. “In unofficial meetings”, as the football association makes clear. And that is exactly the point of contention.
Morocco and Tunisia count the matches
In concrete terms, it concerns the match against Liechtenstein on June 7, 1884, the match against Tunisia on February 7, 1987 and the meeting with Morocco on February 2, 1988, in which the Austrian scored a total of three goals. These do not appear in the official international match balance (as they are unofficial according to the ÖFB). Polster is officially in first place there with 44 goals. But because Morocco and Tunisia do include these matches in their statistics and Liechtenstein did so until a correction in 2021, Polster is pushing for increasing the number of goals scored to 47 – supported by lawyers Manfred Ainedter and Alexander Hiersche.
According to the lawyers, the matches were played in the official kit of the national team and after the playing of the national anthem with a FIFA referee. “We want three games, three goals,” says Ainedter, determined to push through the lawsuit. “I don’t want anything for free. “I just scored the goals,” Polster admits after the first negotiation that the lack of recognition for the three goals has always bothered him. “The ÖFB could simply change the statistics. That wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
At that time, matches were declared unofficial
The football association, represented by lawyer Stefan Korn, sees it differently: “We have no interest in taking legal action against a great athlete,” says ÖFB director Thomas Hollerer, “but unfortunately the conditions for recognition have not been met. ” At the time, these games were declared unofficial games by FIFA. Apparently, partly because there was an agreement with the Bundesliga at the time not to play more than six official international matches.
In the first session, Mr Rat gauges the willingness to make a comparison. Failed. “The evidentiary process is manageable. “The most important thing now is to clarify legal questions,” the judge said, laying out the negotiation plan.
Six witnesses, not all of them can show up on the agreed date
Initially six witnesses were named. Ainedter and Hiersche want to hear from Heinz Palme, Andy Ogris, Ernst Baumeister and Manfred Kern, the ÖFB Thomas Hollerer and spokeswoman Iris Stöckelmayr. But not everyone has time on May 17, the agreed day for negotiations: the FIFA Congress will take place in Thailand.
Whatever the judge decides in this uncharted legal territory, it can be assumed that the case will move on to the next instance.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
