Thomas Bach increases the pressure on Alfons Hörmann.

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expresses in a letter to the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), about which ARD and ZDF reported on Tuesday, his great concern about the credibility of the association and thus also about its functionality.

Bach speaks up because employees of the association hold President Hörmann responsible for a “culture of fear” and a lack of fair play and respect in the DOSB in an anonymous letter.

Michael Reinsch

Correspondent for sports in Berlin.

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    The association's ethics committee, headed by Thomas de Maizière, is dealing with the allegations.

    The athlete representative in the Presidium, Jonathan Koch, was forced to publicly distance himself from a declaration of honor by the Presidium, in which Hörmann is assured of "unlimited trust" and "our full support".

    Despite Koch's contradiction, she appeared by his name.

    Bach writes as DOSB honorary president

    He asks, writes Bach, “to promote an unconditional, comprehensive investigation of the allegations in question and then to quickly draw any necessary conclusions from them, if possible before the Olympic Games in Tokyo”.

    Bach, founding president of the DOSB, does not write as IOC president, but as honorary president of the DOSB and refers to the foundation of the DOSB fifteen years ago.

    In the Paulskirche, the aim was to "increase the value of sport with its values".

    In his efforts to live up to this claim, as DOSB President he was able to experience great solidarity among all member groups as well as the extraordinary commitment, efficiency and loyalty of the DOSB employees.

    The DOSB neither wanted to confirm nor deny receipt of the letter.

    The organization merely stated that there was no comment.

    In the letter, Bach makes it clear that the relationship between IOC and Hörmann is disturbed and that between DOSB and international sport is at risk.

    "You will not be surprised that I am also addressing the DOSB's relationship with the IOC in this context," he writes.

    In the well-understood interest of the DOSB, this needs to be cured, "especially since its position in international sports organizations has unfortunately continued to suffer".

    Bach announced that Hörmann had not answered the letter from Kristin Kloster Aasen, the Norwegian head of the IOC's Future Host Commission. After Hörmann had accused the IOC of false statements after the premature failure of the Rhine-Ruhr Olympic application in 2032, it was a condition of further cooperation that he ensure that “misinformation” ceases and is corrected, “so that we are in a spirit of good partnership and can proceed in good faith to re-establish a strong relationship of trust between DOSB and the Commission ”.