Ernst B. Thommen

The man who almost became the first Swiss FIFA President in 1963 is one of the most flamboyant sports personalities. As early as the 1930s, the Basel native Ernst B. Thommen accompanied the Swiss national football team to the World Cup finals, and in 1938 he introduced the Sport-Toto, thereby establishing a broad financial base for Swiss sports that still benefits it today. As president of the Swiss Football Association, Thommen wielded significant influence in international football bodies. After World War II, he ensured that German football could return to the international stage, laying the foundation for the Miracle of Bern at the 1954 World Cup finals, during which he himself served as the organizing committee president. Without a doubt, Ernst B. Thommen was the most influential sports official Switzerland has known in the last century. He died in a car accident in 1967. A publication of Rot-Weiss-Verlag.