After the German Olympic Sports Confederation, the leading associations of German sports also reject the federal government’s draft for new sports funding.
Andreas Michelmann, spokesman for the leading associations in the DOSB and President of the German Handball Federation, was quoted as saying in a statement that the Federal Ministry of the Interior’s (BMI) draft bill on the Sports Promotion Act was viewed with great disappointment.
The BMI is called upon to return to “the previous trustful, partnership-based cooperation” and to revise the current draft law. Otherwise, the leading associations see “no basis for the effective implementation of the important, jointly initiated reform,” it said.
Criticism of the planned sports agency
Like the DOSB, the sports associations also criticize, among other things, the planned sports agency for distributing the millions in funding. In the draft bill, the federal government has the final say at a crucial point on fundamental questions regarding the allocation of funds.
The sports agency is the heart of the reform and will take on the tasks of control and promotion in the future. The agency’s guidelines should be determined by an 18-member foundation board with representatives from the federal, state and DOSB, in which the federal government takes the chairmanship and can decide in the event of a tie. This corresponds to the specifications of the Bundestag budget and the recommendations of the Federal Audit Office. However, the current draft cannot be said to be an independent and self-responsible agency, the leading associations criticized.
According to the Interior Ministry’s plans, the new sports funding law will be discussed in the cabinet by the summer break. It should then be passed in the Bundestag and come into force by winter at the latest.
