Ein erzwungener Kuss auf den Mund coram publico. Ein unerwünschter, zudringlicher Hilfsgriff beim Kunstturnen. Die Schmähung der grazilen Gymnastin als „fette Kuh“. Ein Kugelschreiber oder ein Aktenordner, die als Wurfobjekt aus der Hand des Sportfunktionärs die Mitarbeiterin zwar verfehlen, aber verletzen: Das sind keine Fall-Konstruktionen, sondern nicht besonders alte Beispiele aus dem Leben im Sport.
Der Deutsche Olympische Sportbund (DOSB) will nicht nur diese Formen der Gewalt in seinen Reihen in Zukunft bestrafen. Dazu hat er am Mittwoch sein Programm im Kampf gegen „interpersonale Gewalt“ im Sport vorgestellt. Im Zentrum steht ein Regelwerk, das die rechtliche Grundlage bilden soll unter anderem für die Erfassung, Bewertung und Bestrafung von Gewalt jeder Art auch unterhalb der Strafrechtsschwelle gegen Menschen in allen Verbänden und Vereinen des organisierten Sports.
Der DOSB wäre die erste zivilgesellschaftliche Organisation in Deutschland, die ein so umfassendes Regelwerk innerhalb seiner Zuständigkeit implementierte. Athleten Deutschland e.V., die kritische Vertretung der Sportler und Sportlerinnen, spricht vom Schritt auf „Neuland“ – gemessen an anderen Institutionen in diesem Land.
90.000 Sportvereine und 28 Millionen Mitgliedschaften
Der sogenannte „Safe Sport Code“ (SSC) soll im Dezember auf der Mitgliederversammlung des DOSB in Saarbrücken zur Abstimmung vorgeschlagen und nach dem Willen der DOSB-Führung beschlossen werden. Mit einer Annahme kann gerechnet werden. Alle 16 Landessportbünde haben Mitte Oktober ihre Unterstützung zugesagt.
Bis Ende 2028 hätten alle Mitgliedsorganisationen des Dachverbandes im Zuge einer Selbstverpflichtung Zeit, das Musterregelwerk anzunehmen, sportartspezifische Details einzufügen und den Kodex in ihren Satzungen zu verankern. Zum Ende einer perfekten Umsetzung wären wohl mehr als ein Viertel der Bevölkerung an den Kodex gebunden. In Deutschland gibt es rund 90.000 Sportvereine und etwa 28 Millionen Mitgliedschaften.
The background for the DOSB’s show of strength is not least the well-founded fear that the extent of sport could be comparable to the sexualized, often covered-up and rarely punished violence in the Catholic Church, for example. “We want to initiate change with the Safe Sport Code by creating trust by strengthening a culture of observation and action in sport,” explained DOSB President Thomas Weikert in a statement from the association: “Violence (…) is part of it not compatible with our values. (…) Anyone who does not adhere to this is not welcome in sport and must expect sanctions.”
All violations must be reported promptly
According to Article 1, the 54-page code covers “interpersonal violence” by all people of all genders who work in or for sports organizations, from athletes to trainers, supervisors, referees and doctors to full-time and volunteer officials. Minors are also bound by the rules. Any form of violence, whether physical or psychological, sexualized or caused by neglect, is prohibited.
“Interpersonal violence” “occurs,” it says in the foreword, “when human dignity, health or sexual self-determination are endangered.” Accordingly, proof of damage that has occurred is not necessary. The facts would then already be met if there was proof of a “threat to legal interests”.
The aim of the regulation is primarily to do justice to the violations that occur frequently in sport but fall below the threshold of criminal behavior within the meaning of criminal law. This could be harassment in training, an inappropriate choice of words, sexist comments. The code allows sanctions to be imposed regardless of the possibility of prosecution by the state. It can range from a license revocation to exclusion.
Legal entities, such as associations or clubs, may also be prosecuted after repeated misconduct by their staff. It has happened that sports institutions have failed to act despite being repeatedly alerted to misconduct. The statute of limitations for all cases below the criminal law threshold should come after five years. All violations must, as the code requires, be reported quickly.
In order to be able to investigate incidents and, if necessary, punish them, the associations have the right to intervene themselves, provided they have previously created appropriate structures. Similar to the prosecution of doping, it is also permitted to commission an external organization. Most professional associations in Germany have handed over the management of doping cases, including sanctioning, to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). The code mentions an assignment to the Center for Safe Sport, which was designed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and is currently being set up.
Athletes Germany criticizes gaps in the regulations
The Institute for Sports Law at the German Sports University in Cologne played a key role in the development of the code, as did Athletes Deutschland eV, among others. Maximilian Klein, the deputy managing director, expressed his congratulations to the DOSB. However, in a statement on Wednesday, Klein referred to deficiencies in the code and to insufficient consideration of some of the recommendations from Athletes Deutschland eV: “At the same time, we note that the regulations leave open some gaps that should be closed quickly in the interests of better protection of those affected. “
Athletes Germany eV listed seven “focal points” whose implementation was “central” to the success of the process. The role of the Center for Safe Sport is also important to Athletes Deutschland eV. The system must be supplemented with independent protective mechanisms, according to the athlete representatives’ statement. The independent Center for Safe Sport plays an “indispensable” role in this.
Conflicts of interest have repeatedly become apparent in the past, for example when doping cases were revealed because an association leadership ignored positive tests for the “good” of the organization or tried to block the investigation. Athletes Germany is calling, among other things, for “freedom of choice” to be established for those affected in the SSC. Accordingly, they should be allowed to decide for themselves whether their report will be processed by a body within or outside of sport. The code does not yet provide for this.
Nobody can duck away anymore
Those affected often reported that they had lost trust in their own club or association because they experienced that reported violations by a coach, for example, were more or less covered by the circle of power. Athletes Germany eV also sees the further development of the SSC in the “independent hands of the Center for Safe Sport”.
The athlete representatives were not among the only critics of the bill on Wednesday, but they were the only ones to speak openly. What they all have in common is the effort to improve the code before its adoption in December. Whether this will happen remained unclear on Wednesday. The only thing that is certain is that the process will take years to be implemented across the board, including the clubs. That didn’t stop anyone from internalizing the good spirit in the code. When objects fly through the gym that are intended to hit people, no one is allowed to duck away.
