UEFA mourns the death of Gerhard Aigner at the age of 80

Former UEFA general secretary Gerhard Aigner has passed away at the age of 80. On 20 June, there was applause in memory of Aigner before the start of the Euro 2024 matches.

Aigner was born in Regensburg on 1 September 1943, per UEFA. He played football for VfB Regensburg and worked as a referee.

Aigner worked for UEFA from 1969 after turning down a job offer from BMW because he preferred to work in sport.

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From 1988 to 1999, Aigner was UEFA's fourth general secretary, the football organisation writes on its website.

In 2004, Aigner was appointed a UEFA honorary member.

In 2003, shortly before his retirement from UEFA, Aigner was also awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

From 2006, Aigner was a board member of Euro-Sportring, a non-profit foundation that organises international sports tournaments in Europe. In 2010, he became the foundation's chairman, as reported by Sportstar.

Aigner was married twice and had five children.

There was a moment of applause in honour of Aigner before the matches of Euro 2024 on Thursday, 20 June, the day he passed away, per Sportstar.

The fans applauded before the match between Spain and Italy and the match between England and Denmark. RIP Gerhard Aigner.

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