German sport must continue to wait for a sports funding law. The draft law was passed shortly before the end of the traffic light coalition. The federal government’s attempts to rescue the long-planned project have now been unsuccessful.
The federal government’s controversial reform package for top-class sport has failed. The SPD parliamentary group announced that the Union and the FDP had confirmed in writing that they would no longer be available to cooperate on the sports funding law until the federal election. This means that the project developed by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) no longer has a chance of being implemented.
The core of the current draft for the first sports funding law is the establishment of an independent sports agency to distribute the millions in funding. The law is intended to provide greater planning security, reduce bureaucracy and ultimately improve the performance of athletes. However, there was still criticism of the plans and calls for improvements.
CSU sports politician Stephan Mayer recently warned that the time remaining until the federal election in February was too short for an appropriate debate.
The draft law was passed on November 6th
After strong criticism from the DOSB and many sports associations, the Federal Ministry of the Interior revised a first draft of the Sports Promotion Act and presented it again in the summer. But this design also caused more than just enthusiasm. “The new draft only results in a top sports agency light. According to the current legal status, the board of the future agency should be subject to too many influences from politics or administration,” complained the DOSB.
Athlete representatives, alongside athletes in Germany, continued to call for changes to the draft law, but also rated numerous approaches as positive and saw an opportunity for a paradigm shift in the promotion of top-class sport.
The federal cabinet finally passed the draft law on November 6th. A few hours later, however, the traffic light coalition collapsed. The SPD and the Greens recently tried to save the sports funding law and had hoped that the Bundestag would pass it in January.
“The blockade is irresponsible”
That’s off the table now. A new start after the election and with a new federal government could mean a postponement of the sports reforms by at least a year.
Sabine Poschmann, sports policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, criticized the Union and FDP’s lack of willingness to negotiate. “The blockade is irresponsible and a bitter setback for German sport,” said Poschmann and warned: “The victims are the athletes and the trainers, who have to continue to wait for fundamental improvements.”
Union representative Mayer replied that the athletes “wouldn’t be helped with a quick legislative fix, they deserve a serious law – and they will get that in the next electoral term.”
The German Olympic Sports Confederation is also counting on this, and in view of the long preparatory work, it expressed its regret at the temporary failure of the plans. “Based on the results of our work, we will make a new attempt with the next federal government to legally support the promotion of top-class sport in Germany and implement the necessary reforms,” said DOSB competitive sports director Olaf Tabor.
dpa/mel
