Roland Rino Büchel (born 8 October 1965) is a Swiss business executive and politician. He currently serves as member of the

National Council (Switzerland) The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States (Switzerland), Council of States, represents the states, preventing mor ...

for the

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...

(Switzerland's largest party) since 2010, as well as a Member of the Bureau of the

Swiss National Council The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States, represents the states, preventing more populous parts of the country overpowering the rest. As the p ...

, and as a member of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

Career

Early years

In 1988–89, Büchel worked in a diplomatic internship at the Swiss embassies and consulates in Venice, Marseille, Milan, Buenos Aires, and Paris. In 1990 and from 1992 to 1999, he was the Head of Sponsorship at

Swiss Cheese Union The Swiss Cheese Union (, ) was a marketing and trading organization in Switzerland, which served as a cartel to control cheese production from 1914 to 1999. To this end, the Swiss Cheese Union mandated production be limited to only a few varietie ...

. From 1999 to 2002, Büchel was Accounting Director for

International Sport and Leisure International Sport and Leisure (ISL) was a Swiss sports marketing company that was closely bound to FIFA. History ISL was established by former Adidas boss Horst Dassler, and was associated with FIFA, the International Olympic Committee and th ...

and Marketing Director for

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. He became known thereafter as an internationally recognized FIFA critic and a campaigner against corruption in sports federations."Showman on the right sideline,"
''Saiten'', 4 October 2019.

Politics

Büchel was elected to the

Cantonal Council of St. Gallen The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important periods in the development of ...

in 2004, and he served on it until 2010. He was elected as replacement for Jasmin Hutter in the

2007 Swiss Federal election Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 Novembe ...

and was able to assume office on 1 March 2010. He was additionally the winner of the 2011 and 2015 parliamentary elections. In 2017,

SonntagsZeitung TX Group AG (formerly Tamedia AG) is a media company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Through a portfolio of daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, as well as own printing facilities, it is the largest media group in ...

ranked him as one of the top 10 SVP politicians. Büchel was a candidate for

Council of States (Switzerland) The Council of States is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the other house being the National Council. As the powers of the houses are the same, it is sometimes called perfect bicameralism. It comprises 46 members. Twenty of t ...

in 2019, but he was not elected. In June 2020, as Rapporteur of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media of the

, Büchel issued a report entitled "Time to act: Europe’s political response to fighting the manipulation of sports competitions." The MPs representing

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

member states in the Assembly urged the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

to quickly resolve what they called an “institutional deadlock” created by

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

over the definition of illegal

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Sports bettors place their wagers either legally, through a sportsbook or bookmaker (colloquially known as "bookies"), or illegally through priva ...

, saying that Malta was preventing the European Union and its member states from ratifying a

convention whose goal was to address the manipulation of sport, and unanimously approving a resolution based on a report by Büchel, given that the Assembly’s Standing Committee said it did not find any justification for Malta’s position. In 2022 Büchel said, speaking of demonstrations, that in his view it was good that people on the street can make themselves felt, especially inasmuch as during the Coronavirus in Switzerland the right to protest had been suppressed too often by the government, but that he was against protesters damaging property. In April 2024, he expressed a dim view of the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, France, saying that he did not find the court to be credible. In April 2025, after criticizing a scandal involving its members engaging in acts he termed shameful, he said: "Honest athletes and federations will have an easier time if ( Swiss Olympic) abolishes the subsidy for fencers: funding crude activists is certainly not the responsibility of Swiss taxpayers." Büchel has served as member of the

for the

(Switzerland's largest party) since 2010, as well as a Member of the Bureau of the

, and as a Member of the

. Büchel has served on the National Council's Foreign Affairs Committee since 2010, and he was chair of it from 2015 to 2017.""I hope Pitteloud is already on a plane to Switzerland." The Swiss diplomat's public statements caused a stir in the Federal Palace. SVP National Councillor Roland Rino Büchel sees this as an attack on neutrality,"
weltwoche, 29 March 2025.

Committees and subcommittees

* Foreign Affairs Committee (since 2010) *Full Member: Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (since 25/01/2016) *Full Member: Sub-Committee on Disability, Multiple and Intersectional Discrimination (since 23/01/2024) *Full Member: Sub-Committee on Youth and the Society of the Future (since 23/01/2024) * Full Member: Sub-Committee on Culture, Diversity and Heritage (from 23/01/2023 to 22/01/2023) *Full Member: Sub-Committee on Education, Youth and Sport (from 29/01/2020 to 21/01/2024) *Full Member: Sub-Committee on Integration (from 26/01/2016 to 28/01/2020)"Mr Roland Rino BÜCHEL (Switzerland, ALDE),"
pace.coe.int.

Personal

Büchel was born in

Altstätten Altstätten is a small List of towns in Switzerland, historic rural town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Rheintal (Wahlkreis), Rhine Valley, in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of St. Gallen (canton), St. Gall i ...

, a small rural town and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the district

Rhine Valley Rhine Valley (German: ''Rheintal'' ) is the valley, or any section of it, of the river Rhine in Europe. Particular valleys of the Rhine or any of its sections: * Alpine Rhine Valley ** Chur Rhine Valley (or Grisonian Rhine Valley; , or sometimes ...

, in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

St. Gall Gall (; 550 645) according to hagiographic tradition was a disciple and one of the traditional twelve companions of Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. However, he may have originally come from the border region betwe ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and lives in

Oberriet Oberriet is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Oberriet is first mentioned in 891 as ''Cobolo''. About 1290 it was mentioned as ''Chobilwalt'' and in 1417 it was ...

, a municipality in Rhine Valley in the canton of St. Gallen."Roland Rino Büchel,"
rolandbuechel-ch. He is fluent in English, Italian, French, and Spanish.

References