All five IIHF Presidential candidates are currently members of the IIHF Council, with the successor to René Fasel set to be elected tomorrow ©IIHF

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) will elect its first new President since 1994 at its Semi-Annual Congress in Saint Petersburg tomorrow, with five candidates looking to succeed René Fasel.

Swiss-national Fasel has been re-elected as President five times, and the COVID-19-enforced delay to this year's elections mean he has led the international governing body for 27 years, making him its longest-serving President.

Fasel will also relinquish his position as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), having been part of the organisation since 1995.

He will become Life President of the IIHF once a new President is elected,

The five candidates to succeed Fasel are all members of the IIHF Council and will be presented to the Congress today prior to tomorrow's vote.

Germany's Franz Reindl was the first candidate to announce his intention to run.

He has served as President of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) since 2014 and has been a member of the IIHF Council since 2016.

Petr Bříza of the Czech Republic became an Executive Committee member of the Czech Ice Hockey Association (CIHA) in 2008 and later its vice-president.

He has been a member of the IIHF Council since 2012.

René Fasel has served as IIHF President since 1994 ©Getty Images
René Fasel has served as IIHF President since 1994 ©Getty Images

Henrik Bach Nielsen of Denmark has held the Presidential role at the Danish Ice Hockey Association (DIU) since 2007 and served on the IIHF Council since 2012.

Belarus' Sergej Gontcharov was general secretary of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association (BIHA) from 2007 to 2011, re-joining the organisation in 2014 and becoming its vice-president as well as an IIHF Council member in 2016.

The final candidate is Luc Tardif from France, who has been the head of French ice hockey for 21 years.

He has been President of the stand-alone French Ice Hockey Federation (FFHG) since 2006, after it became an independent federation from the French Federation of Ice Sports.

Tardif has served as the IIHF Council and treasurer since 2012, also serving on its Executive Committee.

A candidate requires at least 50 per cent of the votes to win, with the person with the lowest number of votes after each round of voting eliminated if necessary.

Elections are also being held to vice-presidential positions and other roles on the IIHF Council, as well as auditors, the disciplinary board, the ethics board and the appeal board.

The vote is taking place on the last of the four days of the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress.