The Vienna Regional Court for Civil Law Matters has dismissed Polster’s lawsuit and ordered him to pay costs, said Viennese lawyer Manfred Ainedter after the written judgment was delivered on Wednesday. Ainedter, together with Alexander Hiersche, is representing Polster in a legal capacity.
Debate about three unofficial games
The core of the matter is whether three games in the 1980s – described as unofficial – were official or not. The record goalscorer in the red-white-red team kit sued for their recognition, especially since he had scored three goals in the matches. Polster’s lawsuit specifically related to the games Liechtenstein – Austria (0:6 on June 7, 1984 in Vaduz, one Polster goal), Tunisia – Austria (1:3 on February 7, 1987 in Tunis, two Polster goals) and Morocco – Austria (3:1 on February 2, 1988, no Polster goals). The ÖFB is currently not counting these games against the former striker in the official statistics. As things stand, the coach of the regional league club Wiener Viktoria has 95 international matches and an unprecedented 44 goals.
In his ruling, the judge concluded that it was solely the ÖFB’s responsibility to decide which games and in what form were used for the international match statistics. There were no FIFA guidelines in this regard. The ÖFB’s decision that only six games per year were counted as official international matches was “not unreasonable” and covered by the club’s autonomy. The plaintiff – Toni Polster – was unable to prove that he was discriminated against.
“We are considering legal action”
“We are of course disappointed, especially since, in our view, the judge did not sufficiently address the arguments of the plaintiff,” said Ainedter on Wednesday evening. The non-final first-instance judgment will now be subjected to a detailed analysis. “We are considering appeals,” said Ainedter.
In the past, Polster had always asserted that his claim had nothing to do with the fact that the current Austrian star striker Marko Arnautovic could snatch his goal record. Arnautovic currently has 37 goals for the national team. “This is simply an injustice that stinks to high heaven and that I would like to see corrected,” Polster said last year, explaining his motives for taking the ÖFB to court.
“Three goals make a difference”
During the trial, he argued that the three goals would also “increase his market value as an advertising figure”: “Three goals make a difference.” The ÖFB should also be “proud when a goalscorer has three more goals.” The ÖFB argued that it was adhering to FIFA’s regulations, which distinguish between test matches, friendly matches and competition matches.
