Funeral of Heinz Fahnler

The funeral for Heinz Fahnler, the former UEFA official and referee who passed away at the age of 66 while serving as a UEFA delegate for the Real Madrid CF-FC BATE Borisov match on 17 September, has taken place in Salzburg, Austria.

UEFA experience
Heinz Fahnler served as a UEFA delegate from September 1990. He was also an experienced stadium inspector and a member of the UEFA security officers' panel from 2000 to 2004. Heinz Fahnler had previously been a much-respected international referee in the 1970s and early 1980s, officiating at major world and European competitions, including the 1984 UEFA European Championships in France.

Devoted to football
Thierry Favre, representing UEFA at the funeral, said: "His heart beat for football throughout his entire life. His passion was devoted to the game with the ball. Heinz set many things in motion, and achieved many things. The football family, above all Austrian football, FIFA and UEFA, has much to thank him for.

An example to us all
"We are extremely grateful for everything that he did in the service of football, and we will miss his way of being, his pleasant and open-hearted personality. His passion, his accuracy and his dependability should be an example to us all. We will continue to champion the football values that were also important to him. On behalf of UEFA, I would like to convey our deepest sympathy to the members of Heinz's family."

Funeral addresses
Addresses were also read at the funeral by the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) vice-president Kurt Ehrenberger, Austrian league representative Georg Pangl and the Wiener Zeitung newspaper, where Heinz Fahnler worked latterly as chief editor until his recent retirement.